Enemies from Another Time
by Nravlek
Summary: The fourth great shinobi world war has come to a close with the enemies' defeat. However, the way to peace is not always so easy, enemies from the future come back in time determined to "better" the world. It is up to Naruto and his friends to defeat them before they completely destroy all that they had fought to protect in the last war. NaruHina and possibly SasuSaku later.
1. Chapter 1: A Mission

**A/N: This is my first story, I had the idea for it for a while, but I never got around to writing it. The story occurs post war. Instead of the typical "Naruto goes back in time and fixes stuff", I thought I'd focus on present time Naruto encountering enemies from a different era. Enough talking on my part, here's the story:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own the story or any of its characters. Kishimoto owns all of it, I only own OC's from this story and this fanfiction I am writing.**

**Chapter 1: A mission**

At long last the Fourth Shinobi World War had ended upon Kaguya's defeat. Kaguya had proved to be the strongest opponent encountered in the Naruverse and being such a powerful opponent resulted in some sacrifices being made to defeat her. Ultimately to provide Naruto and Sasuke with a chance to seal her, Obito and Kakashi made a last ditch team effort, costing them their lives. Even with their sacrifice, Kaguya managed to get a final blow on a certain blond knucklehead as she was sealed, placing him in fairly bad condition. That brings us to the Konoha hospital where we observe the orange-clad ninja awakening from his week-long "coma".

(**A/N: I'm leaving the fight fairly vague as I'm sure Kishimoto's fight with her would easily be better than mine and sorry for killing off Kakashi and Obito, but I assure you that it's necessary for the story)**

Naruto groaned as he woke up in a far too familiar surrounding, a bland white room of Konoha's hospital. He glanced around him to take in his surroundings, noticing a vase with a few lavenders within it on a side table and upon glancing across the room, a brooding Uchiha. "Teme," Naruto said, acknowledging his comrade.

The Uchiha snapped out of his little trance and replied with, "Hn, what do you want dobe," staring at Naruto with his onyx eyes (or rather singular onyx eye and sharinnegan).

"Did we win?" Naruto asked quizzically.

"Obviously," huffed Sasuke. "Why else would we be alive if we had lost dobe."

"Well you could at least fix your attitude if we won!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Hn", replied Sasuke.

"Damn teme," muttered Naruto, staring outside the window at the village that was his home. A smile slowly grew across his face as he realized at long last the battle with the akatsuki was over, until he felt his stomach rumble and he groaned. "Hey teme, let's go to Ichiraku's, it's been sooo long since I last had ramen!"

"You really think you are in good enough condition? Sakura said that you suffered a severe concussion as well as some severe body damage." Sasuke replied. "Not that I really care about you though and I guess I could use some food myself."

Naruto ignoring Sasuke's comment got out of bed and opened the window and perched himself upon the window sill. "Let's go Sasuke!".

"You're actually going to go out wearing that?" Sasuke asked, staring at the polka dot hospital attire worn by Naruto.

"Of course, I've done this plenty of times," grinned Naruto. "Oi, how come you have your normal clothes!" Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke got out of his bed.

"I was only here because of severe chakra exhaustion, there was no reason for me to change into different attire." answered Sasuke.

Naruto nodded his head while grinning as he prepared to leap from the window into his home village. He glanced at the lavenders on his bedside table and felt as if it was reminding him of something, but he just could not remember. Without further ado, he leapt from the window determined to get some of his favourite food, with Sasuke trailing behind him.

**Ichiraku Ramen Shop:**

As two customers entered his shop, Teuchi, unknowing of the customer's identities, announced to them, "Welcome, what can I get you?"

"One miso pork ramen old man!" answered Ichiraku's favourite customer. "And whatever he wants."

"I'll have the same," the Uchiha stated, despite not being a particular fan of ramen.

"Ah, if it isn't the two war heroes! You two have been the talk of the village you know! Also, business hasn't quite been the same without you around Naruto. This ramen is on the house!" said Teuchi.

"Thanks pops!" replied Naruto.

Upon getting his ramen, Naruto slurped down the entire bowl within a few seconds, not really surprising those around him and ordered another bowl, whilst Sasuke slowly ate his ramen. Naruto couldn't help but notice that Sasuke was still subtly brooding, but he decided to leave him be.

"Naruto, I couldn't help but notice that your eyes look different, what's up with that?" Teuchi asked.

"Old man, that's gonna be a long story, let me begin with ho-" Naruto began as he and Sasuke were dragged out of the ramen shop and onto the street by a certain pink haired medical-nin.

"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Sakura shouted whilst using the _"big head"_ jutsu, "DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IN ANY CONDITION TO RUN AROUND, NOT TO MENTION HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WORRIED ABOUT YOU! AND WHY DID YOU DRAG SASUKE-KUN INTO YOUR ANTICS!"

Naruto holding his ears stated "Sakura-chan, no need to be so loud. I heal quickly anyways." "Besides, Sasuke teme came he-"

"SHANNARO!" Sakura shouted as Naruto was punched (likely to Kumo). "Anyways, Sasuke-kun, Tsunade-sama requested your immediate attendance at the council meeting"

"Hn" Sasuke replied as he Shunshinned away, leaving Sakura by herself in the street. Sakura figured that since her patients were now "excused" from the hospital she could do whatever she wanted, but first she figured it would be a good idea to notify some people of Naruto's awakening, especially a certain Hyuga Heiress who had been visiting him daily.

**Wherever Naruto landed:**

"Urgghh," groaned Naruto, "How can Sakura-chan go around punching me like that if I'm in such a '_bad condition_', anyways I 'ought to get my normal clothing back or something." and with that statement Naruto got up and headed to his home.

After shuffling around for a little while he found a black shirt and some orange pants and decided to make do with that for now, considering he assumed the hospital had taken his previous clothes from the war. Strangely enough, something didn't feel right when he thought about the allied shinobi forces' victory; its almost as if Naruto felt sad.

It was then when Naruto remembered the plan which Obito and Kakashi made and he did not even have a chance to react as Kaguya struck them down. Naruto paused for a second, there was no way Kakashi sensei died was there? Naruto got a sinking feeling in his heart, until he tried to reaffirm himself, Obito had his sharingan, so he must have found a way to save them right? Naruto left his apartment and headed towards the Hokage tower, he was certain Granny Tsunade would know where Kakashi was if he was injured.

**Hokage Tower:**

Sasuke twitched his eyebrow in irritation as he awaited for the Hokage to announce the punishment for his crimes. Despite saving the alliance from the threat that was Obito, Madara and finally Kaguya, he still was not going to be given a complete pardon for his crimes and Homura and Koharu, the village elders, were very adamant on this.

"Sasuke Uchiha, as a result of the assassination of Danzo Shimura and the attack on the Five Kage Summit you should be placed off the line of duty as a shinobi for at least a year and possibly face imprisonment. However as a result of your incredible usefulness during the war as well as freeing many people from the infinite tsukuyomi I was able to reduce your punishment to a single month restriction to staying within the boundaries of the village. As Hokage my decision is final, so do you, Sasuke Uchiha, acknowledge your punishment?" stated/asked Tsunade, the active Hokage.

"Fine, I accept the punishment. The rules and standards of the village should be followed by all of its shinobi." answered a slightly displeased Sasuke.

"Tsunade, how can you let such a scoundrel run free in this village, he murdered Danzo in cold blood!" argued Homura.

"He is not running free, he will be carefully monitored by Anbu, besides Danzo committed his fair share of crimes towards the village as well! Death is a light punishment for that old war hawk!" bellowed Tsunade.

Koharu and Homura gave an appalled look at Tsunade before they stormed out of her office, Tsunade giving a sigh of exasperation after they left. "You're dismissed Sasuke, if you see Naruto can you tell him to come here?" she stated. "Hn" replied the Uchiha.

As Sasuke reached for the door it burst open, a blond haired teenager ran in knocking over the Uchiha. "Baa-chan, what happened to Kakashi sensei and Obito?!" questioned Naruto.

Tsunade looked away, a sign of remorse on her face, indicating the horrible news. Naruto's eyes opened wide in shock as he realized that what he suspected was true and he hung his head down while clenching his fists. "Why do so many people have to die just to bring peace to this world? Is it that hard for people to just get along?" a shaky voice Naruto said, more to himself then to the others in the room.

Sasuke stood up next to Naruto and stated the unexpected, "I'm sure both Kakashi and Obito wouldn't want you moping Naruto. They entrusted the future to us, and even though we may have won the war against the Akatsuki we still have a long way to creating peace. Even within the village there is still conflict." finished Sasuke, while reminiscing of the argument between Tsunade and the councillors, as well as the situation regarding his brother.

"But, -" a choked up Naruto tried to argue back.

"Shut it dobe, a Hokage can endure the loss of others if it is for the sake of the village, don't tell m-" said Sasuke before being counter cut off.

"Of course I can endure, I'll be a much better Hokage then you, teme." stated Naruto, wiping a tear away from his eye with his renewed confidence.

Tsunade gave a sad smile before announcing "There will be a mass funeral for all those lost in the war, it will take some time before we are able to recover all the bodies, but before that I have a mission for you Naruto."

"A mission already? The war just ended!?" exclaimed Naruto.

"I'll explain it in a second Naruto, wait for the rest of the team to arrive, I already summoned them. Also Sasuke, you are dismissed." said the Hokage.

"Hn" replied Sasuke as he used his sharinnegan technique to teleport outside, determined not to be run over by anymore crazy idiots.

"So who is going to be on the mission granny?" asked Naruto.

Tsunade replied "Still as impatient as ever kid? Just wait, they'll be here in a few minutes."

A moment later the kunoichi member of team 7 knocked on the door before opening it, followed by the ex-root shinobi, Sai.

Naruto gave a quizzical look before turning back to Tsunade, asking "If Geam 7 is going on this mission, why isn't Sasuke here?"

"Sasuke is on a temporary probation, so he will not be leaving the village. Since your team is lacking a set of good eyes, I believe I found a suitable replacement." Tsunade answered.

Just as she finished her reply, someone else knocked on the door, before Tsunade called out, "Come in!"

The door opened as Hinata Hyuga entered the room, but she then paused as she saw her crush awake for the first time since the war. Naruto turned around as he heard the door open and made eye contact with Hinata and froze as suddenly he remembered what the lavenders in the hospital room had reminded him of and his eyes lost their usual gleam. Hinata noticed the difference in Naruto's eyes immediately as they had the cross pattern of his sage mode and kyuubi powers, yet she was more concerned about the guilt ridden in his eyes. She felt the urge to comfort him, but this was not the time as they had to be assigned a mission.

"As I'm sure you know, all missions in the major hidden villages were put on hold as we had to deal with the war. However this provided an opportunity for missing-nin to commit crimes unpunished. The mission I am about to assign you involves dealing with a major missing-nin threat. A few missing-nin developed the idea that they could create a large organization of missing-nin to complete larger crimes and tasks. I am sure you can see the issue with this, as this organization has grown quite large and could prove a threat to the hidden villages in their weakened state." Tsunade paused before continuing, "The organization situated a base not too far from Takigakure. It is estimated that they have gathered somewhere between 100 to 200 missing nin, but it is highly unlikely that they would all be found at the base. It seems that most of the missing-nin are at maximum chunin rank, but I am sure there are a few jonin level and the leader is likely high-jonin level. If the group is left unattended they are likely going to attract the attention of some stronger missing-nin."

Tsunade now addressing the team in front of her stated, "Your mission is to defeat and capture the leader of this organization as we believe that the organization will crumble without someone to organize it. You are not to engage the grunts of the organization and the mission should be treated as a stealth mission, you must not let the leader know you are coming for him or else he will be given a chance to escape. Sakura Haruno will be team captain for this mission."

"Baa-chan why can't I lead a mission!?" Naruto whined.

"Baka, you'd just destroy the entire base, I trust that Sakura will have good enough judgment to know when to strike the enemy and when not to." replied Tsunade. "Now, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga and Sai, I assign you to complete this S-rank mission, good luck. You are dismissed."

Sakura turned around to address her team, "Everyone meet at the gate in 2 hours, pack enough equipment for one week." She then exited the office, followed by Sai leaving Naruto, Hinata and Tsunade.

"Hinata can I talk to you about something for a second?" Naruto asked whilst gesturing towards the hall, having regained the gloomy look on his face.

"O-Of course" replied Hinata, exiting the office followed by Naruto leaving Tsunade to drink her sake.

**Somewhere near Takigakure**

"Yakekoge, tell me more about this group?" asked a figure from his seat in the shadows.

"They call themselves 'Dusk' probably based off the Akatsuki, I am sure they would be very beneficial as part of our organization as they same rather. I would recommend investing some money in their organization." replied the aforementioned Yakekoge in a nonchalant tone, who could be identified by their short hair tied into a ponytail which was a mixture between some hair which was bright red and some hair which was a Uzumaki red. Yakekoge wore loose kimono-like clothing which was also red, and wore a bandana over his/her lower face.

"Very well, tell them I am interested in their services and bring them some money as well, 100 000 000 ryo should suffice, although that is half of our treasury I am sure it would pay off." replied the figure.

Yakekoge nodded and left the room, leaving the man alone in the room.

**A/N: Yakekoge means scorch or sear in Japanese (I'm bad with names :P)**

**Anyways what did you guys think? Feel free to let me know in a review and thanks for reading! The next chapter will probably be up in a week give or take a few days.**


	2. Chapter 2: Antics and Infiltration

**A/N: Hey everyone, here's earlier update than expected. I'd just like to say thanks to Sakumo and luqie10 for reviewing, I really do appreciate it. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I had a bit trouble writing the beginning part :P.**

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns the characters and story from/of Naruto, I don't. I only own the badly named OC's from this Fanfiction.**

**Chapter 2: Antics and Infiltration**

**Outside the Hokage Tower:**

"Hinata, I heard you call my name and I tried to reach you, but I couldn't and I'm sorry I failed to reach you. I've kept failing to save people in this war, I am just a failure." said Naruto, hanging his head down in shame.

"Naruto-kun it's alright I was just worried a-about you that's all. Don't blame yourself for something out of your control." replied Hinata, trying to reassure the person who she loved.

"But, it was in my control, if I had just been better Neji and Kakashi sensei wouldn't be dead. I couldn't save Obito either and I almost lost you too." continued Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, Neji and Kakashi sensei wouldn't want you to blame yourselves for what happened. Ultimately they were willing to die to help us win in the war and we have to respect their wishes." said Hinata, "And you are not a failure! You managed to defeat the enemy freeing us all from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, you can't say you are anything but a hero Naruto-kun."

"Hinata," Naruto responded, before engulfing Hinata in a hug. "Thank you, you are always there for me when I need someone."

Hinata sporting a blush hugged Naruto back, "You're w-welcome Naruto-kun."

Naruto, breaking the hug, then realized he was not wearing 'ninja attire'. "Gah! How am I supposed to go on a mission without my signature orange clothing!" he exclaimed, yet again back to his usual antics.

Hinata giggled in response, before Naruto sported a grin, "Hinata, I'll see you at the gates later, I need to find some 'hero' worthy clothes! Thanks again for everything!" he said before running off, leaving Hinata to go prepare herself for the mission whilst still sporting a soft blush from the hug.

**Hidden Leaf Village Shopping District:**

"Hmm, I wonder if I can find something like my usual outfit," Naruto muttered to himself gazing through the glass panels featuring the popular outfits for each store. "AH!" Naruto shouted, as he spotted his famous outfit in one of the panels, before walking into the store only to see just about everyone in the store trying it on.

"EHHH!" he exclaimed, how in the world did his outfit become so famous, in fact, who did these people think they were wearing his outfit.

"Hey look it's the Hero of the Leaf!" a random shopper exclaimed. In seconds Naruto was completely swamped by shoppers, desperate to get autographs, his opinion on clothes, and many other pointless things.

Eventually once Naruto escaped that nightmare of a store, he resolved to get a new outfit, something more awesome. He couldn't help but think of anything cooler than his dad's outfit, but unfortunately he couldn't settle for that considering he was not Hokage yet. Naruto entered a less crowded store and asked the shop owner if he had anything that he might be interested in (basically anything orange).

The shopkeeper took Naruto's dimensions and quickly prepared an outfit for him. The aforementioned outfit consisted of a short-sleeved haori similar to the one worn by the Fourth Hokage except orange with black waves at the bottom instead of flames and it ended slightly below his waist. Underneath the Haori was a plain black t-shirt and the outfit also came with black track pants with a orange stripe going down each side of the outfit. Naruto surprisingly took a liking to it despite the fact that it had much less orange then his previous two outfits and purchased the outfit.

**Konoha Gate approximately 2 hours since the meeting with Tsunade:**

Sakura and Hinata were already at the gate engaging in some talk about medical ninjutsu with Sakura showing Hinata some tips and techniques to use. The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Sai at the scene, "Ugly, Weird-eyes, are you both prepared for the mission?" Sai asked with a smile.

"Sai, how many times do I have to tell you not to use rude nicknames!" Sakura yelled while raising her fist at him.

"Sorry, I haven't really gotten a chance to improve on my nicknaming recently." Sai responded, still keeping his smile.

A moment later Naruto landed next to the three, wearing his new outfit. "Hey Hinata, Sakura-chan, Sai lets go complete this S-rank!" he exclaimed.

Sai observing Naruto's new clothing stated "Ah, I see you have a new outfit, " Sai paused for a second to think of a less 'rude' nickname before finishing with, "Possibly dickless over-eccentric ex-orange clad ninja."

Naruto twitched at the 'nickname' for a second before Sakura commented, "Sai, no nickname would be that long and it's still a rude nickname." Sai nodded in acknowledgement. "Anyways, the approximate location of the missing-nin group's base is about one and a half days of travel time so there is no sense in idling around here."

"Hai," acknowledged Hinata.

The team headed out of the leaf village and started to travel towards their destination at Sakura's pace. After travelling for a few minutes, Naruto realized that he could use his sage of six paths/bijuu mode and fly everyone to the location, so he notified the group to stop.

"Sakura-chan, let me use my bijuu mode to fly us to the base, it would be a lot quicker than if we went on foot," Naruto suggested.

"If you are in good enough condition Naruto, go ahead, just don't make it too difficult on yourself." Sakura replied.

"Yeah, don't worry!" said Naruto before trying to access his bijuu cloak, only for nothing to happen. Naruto tried again, but it was no use, his bijuu cloak wouldn't activate. "For some reason I can't use my bijuu-mode, let me check what's going on with the bijuus."

'Hey Kurama, are you there! For some reason I can't seem to be able to use my bijuu cloak, in fact I can't even talk to the other bijuu! What's going on?' Naruto asked in his mind.

"**Kit… some … reason… can't… connect… chakra… Kaguya… seal… damaged… Fixing… wait… now… other… bijuu… free." ** Kurama sort of responded in Naruto's mind, the connection with Naruto's seal obviously being damaged.

"It seems that my seal got damaged by Kaguya or something, so I guess until Kurama fixes it, I can't use my sage of six paths mode. Apparently something happened to the other bijuu, could someone explain?" Naruto asked.

"The bijuu were released after we won the war, so I think they are just roaming the world freely?" Sakura answered.

"Hmm, I guess since they have their own form back they can't communicate directly or something. I'll ask Kurama once he fixes the seal, but I guess we'll just have to get there on foot." said Naruto.

Sakura nodded and the team continued on their journey. Sakura lead the group with Naruto and Hinata behind her and Sai flanking the group. Hinata turned to address Naruto, "Naruto-kun I like your new outfit, it looks good on you." her stutter having significantly reduced due to all the contact with Naruto as of late.

"Thanks Hinata, turns out a lot of people liked my old outfit, so I thought I'd get a new one, I like being unique after all!" replied Naruto, sporting a foxy grin.

"Naruto, are you two a couple?" asked Sai out of the blue, having created that assumption from the hand-holding incident during the war and the fact that they were engaged in conversation side-by-side.

"Eh! Hi-Hinata and me a couple? Sai where did you get that from? Not that I would mind it, I mean I wouldn't mind it, I mean-" answered Naruto flabbergasted by Sai's statement.

Meanwhile Hinata's mind was just thinking the same thing over and over 'Naruto-kun and I, a couple?' while her face gradually grew more and more red to the point where she just straight up fainted, not quite being able to handle the idea as easily as she thought she could.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted as she fell from the tree she was jumping from. Naruto leapt from a branch and caught her mid-air bridal style before landing on the ground.

Sai stopped and gave a questionable stare at Hinata before being smashed in the face by a fist from the pink-haired team leader. "Sai, you bastard! You made Hinata faint!" shouted Sakura as the chakra-enhanced fist blasted Sai into a tree(well actually through a tree) and then another, and another.

"Naruto is Hinata alright?" Sakura asked from the tree she just punched Sai on.

"Yeah, I think so." Naruto responded, staring at the Hyuga heiress. 'She looks pretty cute when she sleeps' he thought, 'GAH! Stupid Sai putting thoughts in my mind, I definitely like her as a friend, she is a really good friend, but that's all right? Well maybe I like her a bit, I don't know!' Naruto finished thinking, mentally grabbing his head and shaking it in frustration.

"Naruto can you carry Hinata? We have a long way to go until we reach the base and I want to make good progress before the sun goes down." Sakura stated.

"Sure thing Sakura-chan." Naruto responded, jumping back up to a tree, while still carrying Hinata bridal style.

Sai recovered from his '_little_' injury and started following the group as they continued to make their way towards their destination, with similar antics occurring for the rest of the journey.

**South-West of Takigakure, a little over a day later:**

"Alright, the base is supposed to be located somewhere around here, they probably hid it within a genjutsu." Sakura stated, "Hinata, can you use your byakugan to try and pinpoint the location?"

"Of course Sakura-san," Hinata replied, while activating her clans technique and scanning multiple kilometers in each direction for strange chakra disruption, before finding the base. "The base is located 2 kilometers south from this location." she stated.

The team followed Hinata's directions and paused a few hundred meters from the genjutsu, which disguised the base as a large rock formation. "I suspect that at the very least they would have a few guards outside the base including the genjutsu user. Once we get closer, I suspect Naruto should be able to sense the locations of each guard, so we can each take down a guard quickly and silently then infiltrate the base." said Sakura. The team listening to their leader moved in closer before Naruto signalled everyone to stop.

"Once we get inside the border of the genjutsu, there should be one guard positioned directly ahead, one to the right and two to the left, approximately 100 meters, 300 meters and 200 meters respectively." Naruto stated.

"Alright, Naruto since you are the fastest, take out the closest one quickly, Sai can handle the furthest one, while Hinata and I will handle the two on the left, one of them is probably the genjutsu user." Sakura commanded, before giving Naruto the signal to initiate the attack.

Naruto burst forward, before the genin-level missing-nin could even see him he was need in the stomach causing him to lose his breath, before being given a swift chop to the back of his neck knocking him out.

Sai used his ink jutsu to summon two dogs to restrain his target before knocking him out with a strike to the back of his head.

Sakura and Hinata ran to engage their targets, one of them sitting while casting a genjutsu, while the other one being a sensory nin, sensed their presence, but unfortunately too late as he was knocked out with a swift jyuken strike. The genjutsu user attempted to retaliate, but was restrained by Sakura before being jyuken striked like her colleague.

The team reformed at the front entrance of the base, being revealed to be a tunnel leading into the ground, carrying their respective guards. The team silently understood what to do with the guards as they brought them into the nearby forest and tied them to a tree. After returning to the base they decided to leave a shadow clone on watch in case any other missing-nins came back to the base, as they would likely notice the genjutsu was gone.

Without hesitating, the team entered the base, the easiest part of the mission being completed. The team now had to tackle infiltration without being detected by the numerous missing-nin hidden within the base. Upon first entering the base, they noticed that the entrance hallway branched off into many intersecting hallways, making the base a complex maze to navigate. Before attempting to navigate the halls, the team stopped at the first intersection to decide a plan.

"Naruto, how many missing-nin are currently in this base that you can sense?" Sakura asked.

Naruto replied, "Approximately 70 missing-nin are here, though I only sense 7 with jonin-level chakra pools, two of them holding larger amounts, but I can't directly tell from this distance. 3 of them are positioned together while the other 4 are positioned randomly throughout this place."

Sai said, "I would assume one of the two with larger amounts of chakra would be the leader?"

"Naruto where are the two missing-nin with larger chakra pools?" Sakura asked.

"They seem to be together with another jonin-level quite a bit below us." Naruto stated.

"Hinata, can you find us a way down there?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, it would seem that there is a stairwell on the other side of the base. It seems to lead to the bottom floor, where I can see a large room which contains quite a few missing-nin." Hinata replied.

"Alright Hinata take the lead and try to find us a route to the stairwell without encountering any missing-nin." Sakura commanded.

Hinata nodded and stepped to the front of the group before heading down the corridor to the right, followed by the rest of her team. The quartet of ninja navigated their way through the top floor of the base without any encounters with enemy missing-nin. However, while descending the stairwell Naruto quickly knocked out a chunin level missing-nin who was on their way up the stairwell, before the group continued down to the bottom floor of the base.

After reaching the bottom floor of the base, where the room containing the leader could be found, the group headed down the main corridor before they paused at the corner of the first branch in the hall. "Hinata, can you tell me how many people are in the room and their locations?" Sakura asked.

"There are three missing-nin standing on a raised platform at the far end on the room addressing 12 other missing-nin. There are also two guards blocking entrance to the room." responded Hinata.

"Naruto, can you give me an idea of how strong the other 12 ninja are?" Sakura asked.

"There seems to be 4 chunin level and 8 genin level along with the 3 jonin." Naruto answered.

"I can see why this would be considered S-rank, taking on that many missing-nin at one time will not be easy." Sakura stated.

"I could easily take them all on!" scoffed Naruto, before earning a light bonk on his head by Sakura.

"Baka, don't shout, you'll alert the guards. I think the best tactic would be to have Naruto and his clones take out the lower level nin, so that we can take on the leader and the other 2 jonin." explained Sakura. "Naruto, since you are the fastest, can you take out the two guards and Sai can you restrain them using his ink snakes?"

"Yeah, sure thing Sakura-chan" replied Naruto, while Sai nodded.

Sakura gave them a signal and Naruto burst down the hall, kicking one of the guards across the face knocking him out, before giving the other one a swift uppercut. He then proceeded to bring them back down the hall, where Sai bound them with his ink snakes. The group then proceeded to assemble next to the double doors leading into the room, with Sakura indicating for the group to wait.

"Come in!" shouted a voice from within the room, "We've been expecting you."

Sakura's eyes widened, having believed that they had infiltrated the base undetected.

"What should we do Sakura-san?" Hinata asked.

"There is no use waiting outside since they know we are here, just remember this is a capture mission, not a killing mission, we have to capture the leader once we identify him." Sakura instructed, before preparing to open the door.

"Hurry up!" shouted the same voice, "I don't like to wait on intruders in _my_ base."

Sakura punched the door open only to be greeted by twelve missing-nin with assorted kunai and shuriken facing towards her and her team.

Across the room which was slightly larger than the arena used for the preliminary fights in the chunin exams stood three missing-nin. The missing-nin on the left was a tall and bulky bald man probably in his late thirties, who wore black anbu armor and had a dissatisfied look on his face. The middle of the three was also tall in stature, but was much lankier than the aforementioned missing-nin and seemed to be in his early thirties. He had brown hair which had the same gravity defying power and style of Kakashi's except it was slightly shorter and he wore a black haori with a golden trim over a standard anbu chest armor. He stood slightly ahead of the other two ninja on the raised platform and had a smirk on his face. Finally, on the right stood Yakekoge, who was a few inches shorter than the man in the middle. The looseness of Yakekoge's kimono made it hard to identify his/her gender, but they seemed to be quite young, probably in his/her early 20s.

"Did you think that we really wouldn't sense you strolling into our base?" the middle-man asked in a cockiesh tone, "My man Nagare here," he nodded to his right signifying the bulkier man, "is a top notch body guard and sensory nin."

"Now I've rambled enough, I can't help but notice a certain Naruto Uzumaki is amongst those Konoha nin, whoever brings me him, whether dead or alive gets 40% commission on the bounty." the man finished, before whistling to indicate the start of the fight.

**A/N: I couldn't help but notice that almost every fanfiction I read seems to include evil cliff-hangers, so I thought I'd put one in (although it's probably not as evil as I think). Anyways, we'll be seeing our first real battle next chapter, hopefully I can write a good battle scene. So let me know what you guys thought of the chapter and see you next time! (I'll probably post a chapter somewhere between 2-9 days from now, I'm kind of inconsistent with deadlines)**


	3. Chapter 3: A Handicapped Battle

**A/N: Another fast update, I really enjoyed the concepts I had for this battle so I could help but write the battle immediately. Thanks to luqie10 for reviewing the last chapter, it gives me a lot more motivation to write and it helps a lot. I found that this chapter was probably the most fun that I've had writing in a while, so I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto, its characters and story belong to Kishimoto, I've said this enough times, but it's probably necessary. I own the OCs and new stuff from this fanfiction though, but no one really cares anyways.**

**Chapter 3: A Handicapped Battle**

**Missing-nin Command Room:**

The twelve missing-nin surrounding the Konoha shinobi rushed forward upon hearing their leader's signal, raising their weapons with the intent to kill. Naruto jumped to the front of the group with his hands forming a familiar hand sign, but before he could use his jutsu, he had to jump to evade shuriken and kunai thrown at him. Although Naruto avoided the weapons, they still headed towards his 3 team mates, before they were deflected by an 8 Trigrams Air Palm from Hinata. While in the air, Naruto performed his shadow clone technique and used the clone to swing himself towards the missing-nin, a planetary rasengan formed in hand. The attack scattered five missing-nin leaving them unconscious across the room.

Sakura, using a chakra enhanced fist smashed the ground in front of her sending another two missing-nin flying. Not too far from her, Hinata was engaged in a taijutsu fight with two other missing-nin, her jyuken cutting off her targets' chakra points quickly rendering one of the shinobi useless while the other jumped back to join another missing-nin who stood back from the rest. Sai quickly pulling out a scroll drew and summoned two ink lions to attack another two targets, quickly restraining them, before he went in with his tanto to finish them off.

The two remaining chunin-level missing-nin backed off from the four Konoha-nin, fearing for their lives as they were greatly outclassed by the Konoha-nin. The leader and his two accomplices still stood back, before the leader turned to address the ninja on his left, "Yakekoge, typically as my assistant and advisor, I'd have you stand by the sidelines, but these particular pests require me to call upon your assistance. You know what to do."

Yakekoge quickly leaped down from the raised platform the three higher level missing-nin were standing on, and performed a quick string of hand seals before announcing in a surprisingly lower pitched male voice, "Fire Style: Flame Stream!". A massive stream of fire was emitted through his bandana (not burning it of course), engulfing the two remaining missing-nin on its path to the Konoha-nin. Naruto and his active clone quickly grabbed Hinata and Sakura respectively before leaping out of the way of the fire stream, while Sai leapt to the other side of the stream.

"Dasu-sama, I'd recommend that we do not hold back against these ninja." Nagare stated, "We'll have to go all out if we hope to win, after all that Naruto kid wasn't put in the bingo books for no reason."

The leader, now identified as Dasu, nodded before reaching behind him and pulling an alarm, notifying the rest of the ninja in the complex that there was an intruder. "It will only be a matter of time before you are overwhelmed, why bother putting in the effort, just take the easy route and surrender now." he stated to the Konoha nin.

"Sakura-san what should we do?" asked Hinata, clearly realizing the situation could escalate quickly once reinforcements arrived.

Sakura shifted nervously as she couldn't think of a plan in this situation, 'there was no way they could take on that many ninja alone? Maybe Naruto, but the rest of us would get injured.' she thought.

"Don't worry, I'll send a few clones to stop the reinforcements before they can get here." Naruto explained. "That way we can focus on the fight against these scumbags." he finished while pointing specifically at the leader before creating five clones who rushed out of the room.

Dasu grew a tick mark of annoyance before jumping down from the platform along with his guard. "Very well, you leave me with no choice. Pick off the weak ones and break him, Nagare." he commanded.

The stoic man nodded before kneeling and performing a string of hand signs which caused… nothing? Or at least that's what the Konoha ninja thought before the ground gradually started shaking.

'A doton?' Sakura thought, 'Is he going to take down the entire base?'

Sakura however was incorrect as Naruto sensed some powerful chakra build up beneath Hinata who was at the back of the group at the time. Naruto quickly leapt back to her, before picking her up and bringing her out of the way before a massive high pressure jet of water burst out of a pipe in the ground leaving a hole in the ceiling of the room.

"Naruto-kun, thank you." said a shocked Hinata, before Naruto set her down.

Naruto turned towards the three missing-nin, giving them a glare, before saying, "No one hurts my friends!" and quickly bursting towards Nagare while forming a rasengan in hand. The large man was shocked by his incredible speed as he was unable to bring his arms up in time to block the attack as he was blasted into a wall. "One down." Naruto remarked, before quickly dodging multiple attacks from Dasu using a kunai.

At the same time, Sai summoned more ink lions who charged towards Yakekoge, who quickly destroyed them using powerful swift taijutsu punches. After destroying the lions, Yakekoge charged towards Sakura at an alarming speed, with Sakura barely managing to bring up her fists in time to block a punch, before she was kicked into a wall. Hinata quickly charged at Yakekoge trying to strike him with her jyuken strikes, but to no avail as he evaded each attack before countering with punches Hinata could barely deflect.

Sai meanwhile turned his interest towards Naruto and Dasu's fight where Naruto was now going on the aggression pushing Dasu backwards with taijutsu before landing a kick, knocking him backwards several feet towards some ink snakes which leapt at Dasu's legs, before he quickly jumped over the snakes while slashing a kunai downwards destroying them. As he did that, Naruto had prepared another rasengan and as he was about to make contact with Dasu, he quickly redirected himself as he dodged a cleaver that missed his face by a few inches.

Naruto turned to see that Nagare was standing with a hole in his anbu-style armor, but no remnants of his rasengan hit remained on him. "You see, Nagare here is a top-tier bodyguard, you didn't think that he'd have medical ninjutsu too?" Dasu remarked while grinning, "Nagare collaboration ninjutsu time."

"Ok Dasu-sama" replied Nagare before forming another string of hand seals before shouting, "Water style: Water Dragon Bullet!" as a water dragon burst forward towards Naruto, before a second technique was heard, "Lightning style: Electromagnetic murder". Dasu reached his hands out sending a massive discharge of electricity into the water dragon forming a truly deadly technique, Naruto quickly leapt out of the way and onto the wall, but the technique continued along its path heading towards Sai, whose eyes widened as it approached. Naruto quickly formed a rasengan and leapt towards the electrified water dragon, slamming the rasengan into it, which redirected the dragon, but not enough to completely avoid Sai.

Sai was smashed by the side of the dragon's head into the wall, while the technique did not contain too much power normally, the electricity damaged Sai enough to render him unconscious. "Sai!" Naruto shouted worriedly before quickly jumping to Sai and bringing him towards Sakura on her side of the room.

Hinata was fighting a losing battle against Yakekoge as the jyuken was too rigid of a fighting style to face against a ninja of his caliber, who was likely close to kage level with his taijutsu alone. Yakekoge broke through Hinata's guard before throwing a punch at her face. Hinata was knocked to the ground, but before Yakekoge could continue his assault he heard a certain pinkette.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura shouted as she smashed the ground with a certain ferocity leaving a hole in the ground where Yakekoge had previously stood. She looked to her side to see Hinata standing back up and wiping a bit of blood from her lips before turning back to Yakekoge, who stood completely relaxed, apparently unfazed by her attack.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he placed Sai down against the wall, "Sai was injured by the enemies jutsu, I need you to heal him!"

"Ok." replied Sakura as she leapt to where Sai had been placed before performing the healing palm technique on Sai.

"I need you to keep Sakura-chan and Sai safe ok?" Naruto asked a newly formed clone. "Sure thing boss." replied the clone before standing next to the medical-nin.

"Hinata, do you think you can take on the one in red?" the real Naruto asked while staring towards Yakekoge.

"I'll do my best Naruto-kun." answered Hinata, before bringing her hands to her side while forming chakra lion heads around each fist.

Naruto nodded and turned back to the other two opponents only to see a massive stone being standing across the room with Dasu on one shoulder and Nagare on the other. "Do you really think we were just sitting idle while you and your friends were talking? Behold my most powerful technique, the Earth Style: Stone Titan. The stones that create this monster are packed with my chakra, so there is no way you and your damned rasengan can do anything against it." Dasu called from the shoulder of the titan. He then looked at his assistant who stood idle staring at Hinata's jutsu, "Yakekoge what the hell are you doing, KILL THEM!"

Yakekoge merely nodded before dashing towards Hinata who in turn dashed towards him. Yakekoge threw a punch towards Hinata's stomach, but Hinata used her natural flexibility to twist around the punch and send a twin lion fist towards his head, to which he also dodged before spinning around while delivering a backwards round house kick which Hinata blocked sending her back several feet, before they engaged in close quarters combat again. The flexibility of the twin lion fists technique gave Hinata much more pull in the fight than before, as she had the ability to maneuver around her opponent much easier, which was necessary against a fast taijutsu user.

Meanwhile Naruto was running to the other side of the room while dodging a surprisingly fast fist from the stone titan, before he jumped onto the wall and hung there for a second. He had to find a way to take down the titan without killing the leader, so he knew that his wind style: rasenshuriken would be too damaging, however he couldn't use any of the bijuu chakra enhanced rasengans either. Before Naruto could plan anymore he had to dodge another fist which smashed into the wall he was standing on leaving a large hole. He landed skidding across the ground before coming to a stop before he noticed both the men on the titan stringing together handsigns.

"Water style: Water Pressure Laser!" Nagare announced, blasting a very high powered thin stream of water from his mouth, which drilled straight through the ground as it quickly approached Naruto and followed him as he dodged the technique.

A moment later, he heard Dasu shout, "Lightning style: Bolt Barrage!" as he fired a lightning bolt from his hand which narrowly missed the dodging Naruto, leaving a small crater in the location he had just stood.

'Damn, with all this dodging I won't even be able to land a hit' Naruto thought as he barely dodged the water laser before jumping over a lightning strike on his location. He was then punched out of the air by the titan, hitting the wall and landing on the ground. He quickly got to his feet as the water pressure laser approached, then ran to his right to dodge the laser only to be hit by a well aimed lightning bolt, once again knocking him into the wall.

Hinata's fight was at a stalemate, as both sides of the fight were very good at evading each other's techniques. Yakekoge leapt backwards after dodging another fist aimed at his stomach before skidding a bit and bringing his hands together to string together a chain of hand signs. However, he was not presented with that opportunity as Hinata dashed forward, connected two fists with his abdomen before shouting, "Two fists!" before she continued with another two fists connecting another two fists "Four fists!". Without providing Yakekoge with an opportunity she continued her assault, "Eight fists!", "Sixteen fists!", "Thirty-two fists!" she continued, while knocking her opponent a little ways back, before she prepared two finish the attack with the final step. However that step would not occur as she slipped on some of the water from Nagare's earlier water jutsu, causing her to stumble out of the technique.

Yakekoge instantly saw a moment to capitalize on and somehow managed to rush towards Hinata despite taking so many hits, while producing a kunai out of his kumino before reaching it towards Hinata's throat. However, the kunai did not connect as a chakra-enhanced fist met Yakekoge's stomach instead, blasting his backwards into the wall with incredible strength. Yakekoge slumped to the ground clearly defeated and Sakura turned to her Hyuga team mate. "Great job Hinata, you bought me enough time to heal Sai, he won't be able to do much in his current state though, the lightning jutsu messed up his chakra a bit." said Sakura before continuing, "We better go help Naruto."

"Hai," responded Hinata, panting a bit from the difficult taijutsu fight which had just occurred.

Naruto pushed himself off the wall only to be met by a massive titan fist coming towards him, looking to his side he saw the water laser approaching from one side, while a lightning bolt was headed towards the other side. However, he found a solution to escape from this situation as he jumped over the fist and landed on the titan's arm, before dashing up it towards Nagare. Nagare immediately stopped his technique before pulling out his cleaver and dashing towards Naruto swinging it in a horizontal slash. Naruto ducked under the cleaver and sent a sage chakra enhanced punch at his face blasting him off the titan and knocking him out. Naruto then leapt off the titan's arm and towards its chest as he dodged a lightning bolt aimed at his previous location. He began forming a planetary rasengan in hand and held it behind him as he approached the titan's chest.

"You bastard! A measly runt like you can't defeat me! I built this damned base, this is my legacy!" the leader shouted before the titan brought its arms towards its chest to defend itself.

'There is no way that basic attack can defeat this giant' he thought to himself.

Naruto quickly started to add more chakra to the rasengans, increasing their size tenfold before shouting, "Senpou: Oodama Planetary Rasengan!" as he connected the massive rasengan with the titan's arms which protected its chest. It slowly started to dig into the arm, before one of the smaller orbiting rasengans collided with one of the arms, breaking it off the giant before the main rasengan broke through the remaining arm and collided with the main body of the titan, now digging into its chest. One of the two remaining orbiting rasengans collided with the head of the titan blasting it off, before the final one collided into the top of the chest, causing a large crack to form down the chest of the titan, before the central rasengan broke through, finally destroying the titan. Dasu fell to the ground, landing on his back with a groan.

Naruto approached the fallen missing-nin leader, who pulled out a kunai and started retreating from him. "How can you be so strong, I don't understand, I've always been the strongest around here." Dasu explained frightened, while backing away from the approaching Uzumaki.

Naruto grinned while saying, "I'm not even going at you with the intent to kill, not to mention I'm not even at half of my true power right now." Dasu's eyes widened at that statement before he slumped to the ground after fainting.

Naruto walked up to the former missing-nin leader and lifted him over his back before walking towards the rest of the team, who was crowded around Sai after watching Naruto's victory, none of them noticing Yakekoge's "body" slowly burn into nothingness, leaving no evidence of ever existing.

**Unknown Location:**

Yakekoge walked deeper into the cave before kneeling before a figure turned the opposite direction. "What do you have to report Yakekoge?" a commanding voice asked.

"The Konoha team was stronger than expected, Naruto Uzumaki appears to live up to the rumors we have heard about him. Regardless, I took the necessary funding from Dasu's treasury and brought it here," Yakekoge finished, pulling a large bag of money off his back and placing it down.

"Perfect, it should be enough to fund all of our operations. I take it Uzumaki was the one to take out your fire shadow clone, correct? Did you 'tie up loose ends' with Dasu?" the voice asked again.

"Actually, it was his team mates who defeated it, but they wouldn't be much of a threat to my actual body, I did not put too much chakra into that clone anyways. As for Dasu, I didn't feel the need to kill him as he didn't know enough about us to compromise our plans." Yakekoge answered.

The other figure sighed before continuing, "Very well, it is almost time for us to put our plan into action. You are to meet with your partner at the border of the Land of Fire and await further instruction. It is time for us to put an end to these cursed days. Akatsuki may have been the dawn of this era, but we will be the _dusk_. You are dismissed Yakekoge."

Yakekoge nodded before leaving the cavern while slightly quivering at the figure's sheer presence and power that they emitted.

**A/N: If you couldn't figure out why the chapter had this name it's because both Naruto and Yakekoge were not fighting at full power, ingenious title right? (crickets chirp in the background). Anyways, thanks for reading, let me know what you thought of the first battle and some poorly named jutsus. Also forgive me for shifting in and out of Japanese, most things sound better in Japanese, but we read English so I don't really know what to use for jutsu names and etc. **

**Next chapter will be up at some point next week? I probably won't post over the weekend at the very least. I'll keep updating as quickly as possible, but I don't want to guarantee anything. Thanks again and feel free to write a review, I'd really appreciate it as every review helps to better the story and my writing.**


	4. Chapter 4: Feelings

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the little break, I had to collect my thoughts and stuff then I got lost along the road of life. You know, typical Kakashi stuff, but actually I got really busy this last week and kind of stressed so I had a bit of writer's block. Anyways thanks to luqie10 for reviewing again! Thanks for the continued support luqie, I appreciate it a lot. Without further ado here is the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto as he always has, along with the characters and story of Naruto. Not much else to add here other than that I sort of own my created OC's I guess?**

**Chapter 4: Feelings**

**Missing-nin Base (Near Takigakure):**

"Alright guys, I got the leader here so we can go now." Naruto said, referring to the unconscious body on his shoulders, "I always thought S-ranks were supposed to be super hard and stuff, but this mission was hardly a challenge!" he exclaimed.

The rest of his team sweat-dropped before Sakura turned to Sai asking, "Sai, are you able to walk?"

Sai tried to push himself into an upright position before collapsing back against the wall sighing, "Unfortunately, I don't think I am in good enough condition. I do not want to be a hindrance so you can go on without me, I'll catch up."

Sakura helped Sai stand up before draping one of his arms over her shoulder for support. "We aren't going to leave any of our friends behind Sai, that's the rule our team has always obeyed. I'll help you until you are in better condition."

Naruto began to lead his team mates out of the base passing by numerous unconscious and defeated missing-nin, while being addressed by the shadow clones which had defeated them. "Boss, problem dealt with!" one clone reported, before Naruto nodded and the clone dispelled. The team had similar encounters with Naruto's shadow clones as they exited the base, before beginning their journey back to Konoha.

Naruto decided that the silence that accompanied the team on their way back to Konoha was too quiet for his liking, so he decided to start a conversation. "Hey Hinata, you're pretty awesome for beating that Yakekoge guy by yourself!" Naruto said.

Hinata nodded at Naruto before replying, "Thank you Naruto-kun, but I would have lost against him if it wasn't for Sakura-san. Besides, you defeated the leader and his guard, which is much more than I could have ever done."

"Pfft, they were easy, I'm sure you could easily take both of them on!" Naruto responded.

"Naruto, you should've seen Hinata during her fight, without Hinata weakening the enemy I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to do much." Sakura said, further encouraging the shy and modest Hyuga.

"Thank you Naruto-kun and Sakura-san, but I'm really not that good." Hinata replied with a light blush at all the praise.

"Of course you are! You managed to land a hit on Pein and weaken his chakra rods remember!" Naruto exclaimed before slightly losing his smile as if he had remembered something vaguely (**A/N: I'm basing this off what happened in the anime simply because I don't feel that the fight is really filler, as it is more of an extension of canon**). The slight twitch was only noticed by Sakura who was looking at Naruto at the time, having a feeling she knew what he was thinking about.

"I actually was on a mission during the attack on the leaf, so I never actually heard what happened during the fight." Sai remarked, curious to hear what exactly had happened during the invasion. Naruto then proceeded to recite the story of his fight against Pein from beginning to end as night began to fall.

**Land of Fire Forest, approximately halfway from the missing-nin base to Konoha, night:**

The Konoha team set up a small fire before preparing to rest for the night. Dasu was tied to a tree and blindfolded, but upon waking up he started shouting so Naruto quickly knocked out the missing-nin leader with a punch to the back of his head. Naruto insisted he would take the first watch, allowing the rest of his team to get some well needed rest, giving him some time to contemplate.

As Naruto began to think, Sakura walked over and sat next to him, before starting to talk to him in a quiet voice in order not to awaken their sleeping comrades, "Naruto, I need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, what is it Sakura-chan?" questioned Naruto.

"I'm not sure if you remember, but Hinata said some stuff to you before Pein struck her down," Sakura paused before continuing, "do you remember what she said?"

"Yeah, I do, she confessed her feelings towards me." Naruto said, while staring in the distance.

"Well, I'm not sure if you know this, but when someone confesses they usually expect a response, Hinata is a nice person, so that's the least you can do for her." Sakura said.

"It's just that, I don't know how exactly I should respond, I'm not really sure how I feel. I definitely like her as a friend, she's nice, caring and she has the same beliefs as I do. Also, I guess she's kind of…" Naruto trailed off.

"Kind of what?" inquired Sakura.

"I guess she is kind of.. kind of…she's cute?" Naruto asked, unwilling to share his true opinion.

"Hah, so you do like her then, why don't you counter confess?" Sakura asked.

"Its just that, it seems that everyone who is close to me dies, I don't know if I can endure like I always say I can. I already lost Ero-sennin, Neji, Kakashi Sensei, I just don't want anyone else who I care about to die, you understand that right Sakura?" Naruto replied.

Sakura eyes widened at the lack of a suffix in her name, before nodding in understanding and thinking to herself for a second, "Naruto, do you remember what Hinata said during the war, when you give up on your words and thoughts, that is when you are no longer comrades. You can't distance yourself from everyone else just to try to avoid hurt, sometimes things happen, but as long as you have your comrades around you you can endure. You don't need to endure alone Naruto, you have your friends and you have her." Sakura finished before pointing towards Hinata.

Naruto's eyes widened for a sudden before he closed them while nodding in understanding, "Thanks Sakura, I know what I have to do." he stated.

"I'm glad to have been helpful Naruto, good night." Sakura said, before going to sleep.

Naruto sat and continued his watch, before looking at Hinata, 'I have a lot to explain to her, but I hope she still feels the same way.' he thought to himself.

**Konoha, the next morning:**

Sasuke stood in the middle of a training ground, staring at a few training dummies with his only open eye. Four anbu sat in the trees to the side of the training ground, monitoring the Uchiha to make sure he didn't try to escape the village or commit any treacherous acts. Sasuke of course knew they were there, but did not pay any attention to them as he wanted to hone some of his new skills.

Sasuke opened up his rinnegan eye(**A/N: I'm not going to bother typing sharinnegan every single time, I'm sure you know that his rinnegan is different.**) while reaching for his sword before teleporting using his eye technique. The anbu in the trees quickly reached for their sheathed weapons and prepared to move, before they paused and relaxed upon seeing the Uchiha reappear in front of the training dummy a second later and bringing his sword across the dummy.

'I need to react quicker after using my technique if I want it to be useful. I should probably improve the precision of the technique too so that I know exactly where I am going to land when I change positions.' Sasuke thought to himself, before witnessing Suigetsu walk onto the training grounds with Zabuza's former cleaver on his back, which he had reacquired after the war.

"Suigetsu, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

"I was just about to leave, but I thought I'd pay you a visit before I did." answered Suigetsu.

"Leave?" questioned Sasuke.

"Yeah, I'm not going to find anymore of the Seven Swordsmen's swords sitting around in this village." he remarked in an annoyed tone.

"Hn, very well." said Sasuke, before he extended his hand out, "Thank you for helping me out."

"Sasuke, when did you become so soft?" playfully asked Suigetsu before taking his hand in a handshake, "Don't tell me the leaf village did this?"

"Hn, maybe." muttered the last Uchiha.

Suigetsu sighed, before beginning to make his leave before turning back to Sasuke, "By the way, Jugo and Karin seem to be adamant on staying here, so I'll leave you to deal with them. Later!" Suigetsu finished, before leaving the village. Sasuke turned back towards the training dummies and continued to practice his teleportation technique, leaving the anbu curious as to what the two ninja had been talking about, but they decided to pass on finding out any details from the Uchiha.

**Konoha Gate:**

"Ah, home at last, lets hurry up and finish this mission." Naruto said as he casually walked into the village with a bound missing-nin on his shoulder, followed by the rest of his team.

The team went to the T&I Department where they handed Dasu to Ibiki for interrogation before heading to the Hokage tower. Upon arriving at the Hokage tower, Sakura took the lead of the group and knocked on the door of Tsunade's office before hearing her call out, "Come in!"

The group entered the office with Tsunade acknowledging who they were before saying, "Sakura, what does your team have to report."

"We completed the mission as intended and we turned in the missing-nin leader to T&I." Sakura said.

"A job well done, Shizune can you give the reward for the mission's success to each member of the team. Sakura I'm going to need you to stay behind to brief me about the details of the mission, the rest of you are dismissed. Oh, and before I forget, the funeral for ninja lost during the war will be in week." Tsunade explained, before everyone gave a solemn nod and everyone but Sakura left.

Outside the Hokage tower Hinata, Naruto and Sai stood facing each other, before Sai said, "I have to go now, see you later." and walked away.

"I still have no idea where that guy goes…" Naruto muttered before turning to Hinata, "Hey Hinata, can I talk to you somewhere more private?" he asked.

"Of course Naruto-kun, what place did you have in mind?" Hinata asked politely.

"Follow me!" he said before walking towards the Hokage monument. The pair walked up on top a flight of stairs before stopping on top of the fourth Hokage's head. Naruto took a seat before gesturing for Hinata to do the same.

"This has always been my favourite spot in the village, I always feel at peace up here, yet at the same time I feel like I can watch over the village like the previous Hokage did." Naruto started while looking in the distance, before he turned to Hinata. "Hinata, you remember what you told me when you defended me from Pein?"

Hinata nodded, before responding, "Of course Naruto-kun."

"Well Hinata I wanted to talk to you about that. I've never really learned what it means to love someone, but at the very least I can say that I like you a lot. I just wanted to know if you were willing to give me a chance to let my feelings develop more." explained Naruto.

"What exactly do you mean Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, thinking that he certainly didn't mean what he had implied.

"Basically, I meant to say: Hinata, would you like to go to dinner with me?" Naruto asked.

"L-like a date?" Hinata counter-asked, getting a nod from Naruto, "O-of course Naruto-kun, I'd love to!" she practically exclaimed before hugging the blond, who returned the hug.

"How does tonight sound?" Naruto asked.

"That would be great Naruto-kun, I need to go home to get ready, I'll see you later!" Hinata said before running off, a little bit too excited to go on a date with her lifetime crush.

"Bye Hinata!" Naruto shouted before sitting back down on the stone monument of his father with a goofy grin on his face.

**Large Cave, undisclosed location:**

Nine ninja stood in a large cavern; seven of them stood in a line facing two others. The man on the right of the two who were separated from the rest was the same figure who had previously addressed Yakekoge, who was not present in the cavern at the time. "We shall wait until Yakekoge and Shogai are at their location." the man who had previously spoken to Yakekoge said, his features unidentifiable in the darkness of the cavern.

A moment later two holograms, not too different from the ones used in Akatsuki's meetings, appeared next to the other seven figures; one of Yakekoge and the other of a well-built man in his 30s with slick short black hair. He wore a chest plate not too dissimilar of the kind worn by Hashirama and Madara, except without the shoulder plates.

"Let us begin the meeting." the other man in front of the group said, before the man on the right stepped forward into the light while the other man still stood in the shadows.

"Dusk, very soon we shall begin our operations. The five major shinobi villages are at their weakest point on years so they stand no chance at opposing us with our current power. Yakekoge has given us the necessary funding to prepare ourselves as I'm sure you have noticed with the large array of weaponry we have recently acquired", the man standing in front said before signalling behind him. "Unfortunately the leaf village has attained some substantial power from the war as two of their shinobi have gained significant power, so our very first task will be to cripple the leaf." he continued.

The man then turned specifically to Yakekoge and his partner, "Yakekoge, Shogai, the two of you are to draw attention outside of the leaf and pick off any shinobi they send to stop you. I expect them to send their strongest shinobi after you once you have been identified as a significant threat. I have something I personally have to deal with in the leaf, so you will hold off attacking the village until I am done." at this statement Yakekoge clenched his fist in anger, before the man continued, "Do not worry Yakekoge, I assure you that you will get your revenge in time, as well as you Shogai." the man identified as Shogai nodded, "The two of you will find a scroll in your current location which contains the weapons you requested for your raid on the leaf village, once I have finished with my task I will send a signal through a seal like this one," he held up a seal, "which is the signal to commence your attack on the village, I'll leave you to justify how much damage should be done to the village. Your task is important, we cannot have the Leaf interfering with our plans, do not fail you two." the man finished.

"We won't leader-sama." Yakekoge responded while kneeling in respect.

Shogai meanwhile scoffed, "Yea we'll definitely fail." he said sarcastically.

The leader did not even twitch at his remark before the other man still in the shadows called out, "You'd be surprised at the strength of the Leaf in these days."

The leader turned to look at him before turning back towards the other two ninja who he was previously talking to, "You can leave now." he stated, before the two holograms blinked out of existence. He then turned towards the other seven members of Dusk in front of him, "I shall be heading to the leaf now, your other leader will discuss what the rest of you are to do in the meantime." He then leapt over the other seven before stopping at the entrance.

The other man who was also identified as the other leader walked slightly out of the shadows before saying, "Remember, don't let them discover what you are doing, keep your emotions in check."

The leader turned his head towards his comrade with a piercing gaze of two purple sharrinnegan eyes which paled towards the center, "I've never failed before, so I have no intention to fail now." he stated before leaping out of the cavern. Leaving the rest of Dusk to continue the meeting.

**A/N: Ugh, pre-relationship Naruhina stuff is actually pretty difficult to write so that it appears somewhat realistic. What did you think of dusk and their leaders? The group is going to operate mainly in pairs not too different from the Akatsuki, but their motif is yet to be revealed. I'm not sure when the next one will be up, I have a lot of stuff planned next week, but I'll try to at least get one out per week. Thanks for reading, and please post a review to let me know what you thought of the chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Land of Fire

**A/N: Hey everyone, I have to apologize about the last chapter as I personally felt it was a bit lackluster myself. Anyways, no reviews last chapter, but thanks to everyone who read it. In order to compensate for the last chapter, I have an extra long chapter in store for you guys (and girls), containing a bit of everything. So anyways, here it is:**

**Disclaimer: The owner and creator of Naruto is Kishimoto and therefore it is fair to assume that he owns all the characters from it as well as the story. I do not own Naruto, just the occasional OC and stuff.**

**Chapter 5: The Land of Fire**

**Konoha, early afternoon:**

Naruto began his walk back from the Hokage monument thinking of some possible places to go for his date later. He was struggling to think of something that would be suitable, which unfortunately did not include Ichiraku ramen much to his dismay. While Naruto was lost in thought, he ran into someone who was walking his way, "Hey, watch where you're-" he stopped upon realizing he had run into Shino, "Oh, Shino it's just you. Sorry about that I was just thinking about something."

Shino slightly readjusted his glasses changing the reflection of the sun off of them, before saying, "If you were lost in thought, something must be _bugging_ you, what were you thinking about?"

"Eh, I was just having problem planning a date that's all." Naruto replied, not really expecting Shino to delve deep into his business.

"I take it that your date tonight is with Hinata, I know that because my bugs are particularly perceptive." Shino said stoically.

Naruto sweat-dropped slightly before answering, "Y-yeah it is. I don't suppose you would have any advice would you."

"Actually I do have some. For a first date, you should make sure that you dress yourself appropriately, not too casual, but at the same time not too formal. Also, you should pay for your date as it is the gentlemanly thing to do. A first date should never be at a place such as Ichiraku's despite how much _you _might enjoy it. Plan out a date which shows you put in the effort, knowing Hinata she would appreciate that much in itself. That is all I have to say, so I must go and tend to some business regarding my insects." Shino finished, leaving Naruto jaw-dropped.

"Uh, thanks Shino." Naruto said, before Shino nodded and left. 'Geeze who'd imagine that guy would know so much, I guess I don't give him enough credit.' Naruto thought to himself, before heading home to prepare for his date.

Elsewhere, Hinata was preparing herself for her date, more mentally than physically. 'I cannot faint in front of Naruto-kun.' she thought to herself, before shifting through her clothes trying to find something suitable to wear later. After finding something she felt was suitable, she decided she would polish up her look and went to the powder room to prepare.

**Konoha, late afternoon:**

Naruto stood outside the Hyuga compound wearing a white button up shirt and black slacks. He had just notified one of the branch member guards that he was there to take Hinata on a date, to which the branch member went to notify Hinata with a small smirk on his face.

After pacing slightly worriedly, he saw the gate open and Hinata walked out. She wore a pink dress (**A/N: Watch Naruto Shippuden Ending 21 (Cascade) to see an image of it because I can't really describe it.**) which had a rounded collar and she wore a blue tank top underneath, which only had its straps visible from the opening in the dress. "Hello Naruto-kun" said Hinata timidly.

"Wow Hinata, you look amazing!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Thank you Naruto-kun, you look great too." Hinata replied.

"I've got a bunch of awesome stuff planned tonight, so we should leave now." Naruto said with a goofy grin before gently grabbing Hinata's hand. He intertwined his fingers with hers before they started walking towards their first destination.

'Naruto-kun is such a gentleman' Hinata thought to herself before asking Naruto, "Naruto-kun, where are we going?"

"Well first off I was thinking we could go to this new sushi place," Naruto said, "I hear they are pretty good and I have a feeling you would like it."

"That sounds wonderful Naruto-kun." Hinata said, while shifting slightly closer to him as they walked. Hinata found that having Naruto by her side made her feel for a lack of a better word, safe, as if he would stop anything from hurting her. Naruto on the other side was glad to have someone to stick by his side and support him, especially someone who shared the same mindset and beliefs as him.

The couple shortly arrived at the restaurant where they were guided to a table by a very polite server, who was rather shocked to be serving both the Hyuga heiress and the village hero at a single table. The restaurant was fairly small, but it had a new feel to it, being well ornamented, but being dimly lit. Candles at each table illuminated the restaurant which was composed mainly of wood and bamboo.

The server took each person's order, before leaving to fetch some glasses of water. Upon acquiring the waters the server witnessed Naruto ecstatically explaining a story to Hinata, who was trying to stifle a laugh. The server then smiled at the pair before leaving to give the cook the order leaving Naruto to continue the story.

Hinata covered her mouth with her hand while giggling, "Kakashi-sensei beat both you and the group of enemy ninja?"

"Yeah, but back then we were really weak and stuff," Naruto pouted, "After the mission I asked Kakashi if I could see what was behind his mask and guess what was?"

Hinata now eager to hear the conclusion to the story sat with her head on her hands, "What was behind the mask Naruto-kun?"

"Believe this, another mask!" Naruto said before laughing alongside Hinata, "I guess I never got to see what was behind it though."

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, some things are better left unseen," Hinata said while gently laying her hand and Naruto's, to which he looked up at her and smiled, receiving a smile in return. The server then brought their meals and wished for them to have a good meal, before dismissing himself.

Naruto surprisingly ate his food with a certain delicacy, determined to impress his date. The blond also began to tell another story while the two ate, Hinata enjoying every second of his company.

Upon finishing the meal and receiving the bill, Naruto grabbed the bill, before Hinata stopped him, "Naruto-kun, please let me pay for it, it's the least I can do to repay you for planning the date," she said.

Naruto replied, "I'm sorry Hinata, but I'm obligated to pay, after all it is my job to make this date amazing and I never go back on my word."

Hinata smiled, before letting go of the cheque saying, "Alright Naruto-kun, just promise me you won't pay for me all the time, I can't let you do that."

Naruto grinned before placing money to pay for the meal and a reasonable tip on the table, "I'll try not to ok Hinata?", before grabbing her hand and leading her outside of the restaurant and towards their next destination.

"Where are we going next Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, curious as to what else the blond had in store.

"Well, I was thinking that we could go on a walk around the village, but I have a better idea." Naruto said, leading Hinata towards the Hokage monument. The pair stopped at a park which had a good view of the Hokage monument and the sun about to set behind it. Naruto signalled towards a bench before the two sat on it, side by side.

"You know, of all the times that I looked up there in admiration, I've actually never seen it at sunset," Naruto began, "It really is amazing, don't ya think Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, "It is Naruto-kun and I know you'll be up there one day too."

"You really think so?" Naruto asked, "I'm sure Sasuke-teme is a pretty good contender."

"Of course Naruto-kun and I'll do everything I can to help you get there and I never go back on my word because that-" Hinata responded.

"-is our ninja way." Naruto finished, before pulling Hinata closer and putting an arm protectively around her, "I want you to stay by my side and help me get up there."

"I will, I promise." Hinata responded, snuggling a bit closer to Naruto while they sat in comfortable silence watching the sun set.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain Uchiha was sitting a tree at the edge of the park watching before he thought to himself, 'Hn, we'll see who becomes Hokage dobe,' he then smirked before leaving to rest after a day of intensive training.

Naruto walked Hinata home as closure to their date, bringing her to the front of the Hyuga compound. "Well this is your place I guess," Naruto sheepishly said.

Hinata nodded before responding, "Naruto-kun, the date was wonderful, thank you for planning it all out."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head before replying, "It really wasn't much trouble Hinata, I'm just glad you liked it, so umm, I guess you'd be fine with another right?"

"Of course Naruto-kun. I'm sure my father is worrying right now though, so I should go soon." Hinata said.

"Alright Hinata, bye!" he said while bringing her into a hug, to which Hinata hugged back.

"Bye Naruto-kun," she answered while staring into his eyes, while he returned the stare for a lingering moment before Naruto broke the hug slightly to Hinata's discontent.

Hinata started to walk back to her house as Naruto waved and started to leave the other way, 'Damn, I should've kissed her there.' he thought starting to sulk.

"Naruto-kun?" he heard Hinata say before he turned around.

"Y-yeah?", he replied before Hinata wrapped her hands around his neck and brought his head down to meet his lips.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds before Hinata whispered, "Bye," and quickly ran back to the Hyuga compound with a scorching blush which was invisible in the night.

"Bye." Naruto responded to the now vacant street, before erupting in a mad grin and walking home with a certain bounce in his step.

**Civilian Village, close to the border of the Land of Fire, evening:**

Two figures walked into a civilian village, one wearing a loose-fitting red kimono with a red bandanna over their lower face and a tanto on their back, while the other wore a metal(silver) chest plate and had a few giant(fuma) shuriken on his back as well as storage seals on his arm. The two stopped at the outskirts of the village before the older figure turned to his partner, "Yakekoge, you know what our leader said, do whatever you want, but I don't particularly want to take part in this."

Yakekoge turned towards his partner giving an angry glare, "Shogai, we are to distract Konoha while leader-sama completes his work there. If that means killing civilians then I am more than willing to do it, as long as it leads to the fall of Konoha." he paused before continuing, "Besides, innocents are never spared, this village will suffer the same fate as mine had to."

"Fine, do whatever you have to, but I'm not getting involved in this, I'm just in this to get revenge on a certain someone." Shogai responded.

"Very well, don't get in my way," Yakekoge warned, Shogai walking out of the village as Yakekoge leapt onto a nearby rooftop and flew through a few hand signs. "Fire Style: Great Phoenix Sage Fire!" he shouted while launching a greatly enhanced version of the normal barrage of small fireballs, the technique instead sent fireballs the size of an Uchiha's fireball jutsu raining down on the village shredding through buildings and sending civilians running onto the street.

Yakekoge then narrowed his eyes, before jumping high up and quickly sending a fireball onto the building he was standing upon and landing gracefully on the street. "Fire Style: Flame Stream" he announced before ignited the entire street with a massive stream of fire which stretched across the length of the entire village incinerating any of those in the path of the flames. The few survivors of the initial assault quickly fled to the exits of the village, but were unable to reach them as Yakekoge quickly leapt from civilian to civilian taking them out with a quick slash of the tanto to the neck, without a single smear of blood landing on the tanto.

Shogai quickly leapt to the street Yakekoge was on as he picked off two more survivors. "Yakekoge that's enough, besides we have to leave a survivor to warn Konoha," Shogai said.

"They'll know eventually," Yakekoge said, before leaping down to the remaining 3 civilians and quickly killing two before precisely throwing his tanto into the back of the final one.

"After all," Yakekoge said as he turned towards Shogai with a look of pure malice, "only one civilian village's destruction won't be enough to attract a shinobi village."

Shogai surprisingly was unfazed by the pure killer intent coming from Yakekoge and he responded, "Fine, whatever, you can do your thing and I'll do mine, in the end we both have our reasons to take down Konoha and if this is what we have to do, then fine by me."

Yakekoge then turned towards the exit of the village and walked out followed by Shogai, leaving the flaming wreckage of what was once a peaceful border village, the flames now illuminating the night.

**Konoha, the next day:**

Naruto stumbled out of his bed and made himself some instant ramen as he woke himself up. After he ate his ramen breakfast, he reminisced about the events of the previous day with a grin before setting out to find his Uchiha rival.

**Konoha Training Grounds:**

"Hey teme! What are you doing?" Naruto asked as he landed next to Sasuke in one of Konoha's training grounds.

"Tch, I'm training. What do you want dobe?" Sasuke asked in an annoyed tone.

"Hm, how about a spar, unless you're _afraid?_" Naruto said while leaning closer to Sasuke.

"Hn, I don't have time for that right now Naruto, I'm working on some techniques right now." the Uchiha responded while pushing Naruto away.

"Fine, whatever I barely wanted to fight you anyways," Naruto said while pouting before leaving to go to his own training ground.

Naruto went into a meditative position in the center of the training ground and tried to access the tailed beast plane only to find himself in a familiar sewer surrounding. 'Well I guess this is a good enough sign that Kurama has been fixing the seal' Naruto thought as he walked towards the location where the nine-tails had been imprisoned for a good portion of 16 years.

Upon arriving at the large room he couldn't help but notice that there was a large closed cage with a certain resting fox behind it, "Oi! Kurama, what happened here?" Naruto exclaimed.

**One of the fox's eyes lazily opened, while it said in a growl, "Go away brat, do you know how difficult it is to rebuild our chakra link?"**

Naruto scratched his head, "Not really."

**Kurama slowly lifted himself into an upright position, "Well I basically had to rebuild the seal exactly as it had been originally from the **_**inside. **_**Do you know how much work that is kit? Anyways, in order to stabilize my chakra so that it did not mess you up during your fight, I had to build the seal as it originally was, so you'd have to use the seal key to access my chakra again."**

Naruto gave the fox a sly grin, "And what if I don't?"

**Kurama then proceeded to lie down, "Then I'll just go back to resting, it's your loss."**

Naruto then proceeded to wave his hands frantically, "No! I need to train, I'll use the seal key you damn fox!" he shouted before reaching towards his stomach and applying some slight chakra to his fingers and twisting his hand to release the seal. The massive cage containing the fox swung open allowing the fox to swing its tails around more freely before the two entered the deeper Tailed Beast Plane.

Naruto stood surrounded by the nine-tailed beasts, before he decided to ask, "Hey Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki and furball." The fox twitched at the comment before deciding not to bother remarking. "How have you been?" Naruto asked.

**Matatabi responded, "We have been very well thanks to your efforts Naruto."**

"So I don't really get why only Kurama was able to fix the seal, don't I have all of your chakra inside of me?" Naruto asked.

**Chomei announced, "Allow me to explain that. We were unable to directly access your body from our own bodies because your connection to Kurama was severed. The direct connection with Kurama is what allows you to reach this plane where we can communicate with you."**

Naruto nodded trying to understand, "I think I get what you are saying."

**Kurama then clarified, "Basically, you still had their chakra, but you did not have their sentience or mind. So even though you had the chakra, it could not be manipulated to fix the seal."**

Naruto then understood, "Ah, I get it now, alright thanks guys. I'm going to train now I guess…" he said before awakening in the real world.

Naruto then proceeded to tap into the chakra of the tailed beasts, granting him his Sage of Six Path's cloak with the corresponding Truth-Seeking balls floating behind him. Naruto then grinned before trying to determine how he should train.

"**Kit I have a suggestion, why don't you use clones to train on a couple different areas. Have one clone outside of the Sage's Cloak training in some ninjutsu and taijutsu so that you can hold your own in case something like this happens again. You can also have two clones in this mode training taijutsu against each other while the original works on manipulating the gudo-dama."**

Naruto then proceeded to follow the fox's instructions and created the necessary clones before beginning his training. The clone of Naruto which was in his base mode went to the side of the training field and sat in a meditative position while the other two clones in the bijuu cloak mode began a fierce taijutsu fight on the other side of the field.

'Hey Kurama, what do you suggest I do with the gudo-dama?' Naruto asked.

"**Hmm, I'm sure you remember that Obito and Madara were both able to use them offensively and defensively so I recommend you try to do the same. Try sending the balls at different targets around the training ground for starters." Kurama said.**

Naruto then turned towards a tree at the side of the training ground before saying, "Alright, let's do this!" to which he sent the ball towards the tree at a high-speed only to miss it by a meter. "EH!" Naruto shouted astonished he missed by that much.

"**Kit, try using them at lower speeds to improve your accuracy before you use them quickly, Obito and Madara were probably far more experienced than you when it comes to chakra control so it's not really a surprise that they could use them more effectively." Kurama said.**

Naruto nodded before bringing the ball back and trying again. The two clones engaged in a taijutsu fight did not particularly need any instruction, so they continued the assault against each other. The final clone however accessed the bijuu plane to ask for some advice, "So what do you guys suggest I do in my basic form?" the clone asked.

"**Hmm, you remember how you have our chakra? You should be able to use our abilities without our direct contact, but you need to learn how. The techniques you completed during the war required our direct input, but if you could manipulate the abilities granted by our chakra by yourself, you could easily hold your own in this mode." Son Goku said.**

"Wait, but I'm doubting anyone would be damaging my seal to the level that Kaguya did, so couldn't you guys just help me directly?" Naruto asked.

"**We could, but keep in mind that we are free now. That means that we are contacting you from our real bodies right now, which actually requires some focus as our distance from you is quite far right now. Should we become preoccupied we would not be able to manipulate the chakra for you. Besides, if you mastered our abilities then you could use them to a greater extent than you could with our help." Son said.**

Naruto nodded before asking, "So who's abilities should I master first?"

**Son laughed before stating, "Mine of course, it is the strongest after all." the other bijuu grew tick marks of annoyance at Son's pride, but decided to let it slide.**

"Alright let's do this Son!" Naruto shouted.

"**Yeah." Son replied.**

The clone in the real world then proceeded to start using some low level lava techniques with Son Goku's assistance to get the feel of lava style.

**Close to the Land of Fire Border:**

"Ebisu-sensei, I didn't get why we had to bother doing that mission, it was barely a C-rank!" Konohamaru shouted.

"Diplomatic missions are of utmost importance Konohamaru, especially with the closure of the war, we have to make sure our relations with the other villages are still strong or else we could be attacked while we are still weak as a village." Ebisu explained.

"Well sending us off just makes the village weaker!" Konohamaru whined.

"Konohamaru, don't forget that Naruto is back, he can protect the village by himself." Moegi said.

"Boss needs me there too though!" Konohamaru argued, before stopping upon seeing some smoke in the distance.

"Ebisu-sensei, what is going on over there?" Udon asked.

"I'm not sure, but we should go check it out, it's a civilian village so innocents may be in danger." Ebisu stated before running towards the village, followed by the rest of the team.

Upon arriving in the village, they found what was the charred wreckage of a once prosperous border town. "What happened here?" Konohamaru asked, while walking to the ruined remains of a building with a bit of smoke rising from it.

Moegi then saw a body and immediately ran over to it and attempted medical ninjutsu on the person only to realize they had been dead for a little while and the wounds they had suffered could not be healed. She then covered her mouth as a gasp escaped her lips. Ebisu was also analyzing one of the corpses only to see a very precise slash mark across the victims throat.

"Everyone, we have to report this to Hokage-sama immediately," Ebisu explained, before thinking to himself, 'Whoever did this is ruthless.'

"Hai sensei!" the three team members said before running towards the Leaf Village with dire news to report. Elsewhere in the village, the few remaining flames ran out of fuel and extinguished, leaving a charred surface in its wake.

**A/N: So let me know what you thought of the chapter. Every review means a lot and definitely helps me write the story, as right now I don't really have any way to know how good (or bad) it has been so far. So let me know in a review please! Also, thanks for reading and I'll stop pestering you about reviews now.**

**Next chapter will be up probably next Monday? Maybe earlier or later depending on how much time I have. Also get ready as we'll be getting closer to the confrontation between Yakekoge, Shogai and whoever the leaf sends after them. The fight will be the first major one in this story and I expect it to last at least 2 chapters? We'll see once I get to writing it though. Thanks again for reading! **


	6. Chapter 6: Fiery Confrontation

**A/N: Hey readers, thanks for reading this far into the story. This new chapter will be pushing the plot significantly forward so I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters and story and has a new Naruto movie coming out this year! Basically I don't own Naruto and I can't wait for the movie.**

**Chapter 6: Fiery Confrontation**

**Konoha, the next day:**

Naruto stood in his Sage of Six Paths Bijuu cloak, while manipulating his gudo-dama to form a shield to protect him from one of his clone's lava-jutsu attacks. Although Naruto had spent quite a bit of time the previous day training, his clone still had to use Son's help in order to manipulate lava-style, although he had become more adept at using it. The real Naruto had been focussing on moving and manipulating the shape of the truth-seeking balls which the bijuu cloak had granted him and was now testing his ability in real-time.

The clone using lava-jutsu quickly leapt over Naruto while sending a ball of lava descending upon him, to which Naruto created a round shield above him to block the attack, causing the lava to fall around him before he sent one of the gudo-dama at the clone, dispelling it. After receiving the memories of his clone, he sensed a familiar presence, to which he exited his bijuu cloak before jumping to the edge of the training ground.

"Hey Hinata, how are you doing?" Naruto asked.

"I'm doing well, thank you for asking Naruto-kun. I thought you might get hungry, so I brought some lunch for you." Hinata asked before lifting up a picnic basket she had in her hand while smiling.

"Really? Thanks Hinata you're the best girlfriend ever!" Naruto shouted, causing Hinata to blush lightly.

"Thank you Naruto-kun, but it really wasn't too much trouble, it is just a few sandwiches…" Hinata said, while Naruto took the basket.

"Well I am sure I'll love them, do you want to stay here and eat with me?" Naruto asked.

"I would love to Naruto-kun, but I have to attend a clan meeting." Hinata answered.

"Ah, it's alright." Naruto said with a small pout, "Bye Hinata!" he finished before giving her a kiss on her cheek to which she blushed.

"B-bye Naruto-kun." she said before leaving Naruto to eat his lunch and continue his training.

**Hokage Tower:**

"Your team's mission is to discover who attacked the border villages and defeat them and bring them in." Tsunade stated, "The intel provided by Team Ebisu suggested that the attackers are proficient fire-style users which is why I have selected the four of you for this mission. Unfortunately we do not have much more information than this, but considering only civilian villages were attacked we do not believe these attackers are too powerful."

The team captain, a jonin-level ninja nodded before asking, "Is there a particular place we should look to find these attackers?"

Shikamaru who had also been in the room answered this question, "I believe that although their motive is unclear, they seem to be sticking towards attacking civilian villages. Additionally, the villages have been close to the border so there is reason to believe that they are trying to avoid attracting too much attention from shinobi villages or possibly want to escape easily over the border. The motif of these attackers is unclear, it is troublesome to say the least, but you'd likely find them at the border."

The jonin captain nodded before Tsunade said, "This mission will be considered A-rank, as the fire style jutsu demonstrated by these attackers could pose a serious threat to chunin-level ninja. This was the reason why I selected you three water-style users to go on this mission." Tsunade finished while pointing at the three chunin who stood behind their captain. "You're combined water style along with your captain's earth style should provide you with enough strength to suppress and defeat the fire style users. Good luck, you are dismissed."

The team then left the Hokage's office before Shikamaru turned to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, I feel like something isn't right about these attackers. I can't see any reason for them to attack these civilian villages, there was no evidence suggesting that they were bandits as valuables had been found amongst the remains. It is quite troublesome to say the least." the Nara finished while placing a hand on his head in exasperation.

"I understand where you are coming from, I feel that something is amiss too, which is why I called you to this office. Following the funeral for those lost in the war, I would like you to go to Sunagakure and notify them of what has happened recently. It is possible that this may tie in to the missing-nin which Sakura's team had captured recently, but if that is not the case it is possible that other nations are at risk. Hopefully this team discovers something regarding these ninja, but I would still like you to notify the sand village of a possible threat." Tsunade explained.

"Troublesome, very well I shall notify them of these recent upbringings." Shikamaru responded before thinking, 'I guess I'll end up seeing that troublesome woman again'.

Tsunade twitched at the Nara's overused saying before signalling for him to leave, before she pulled out a map of the Land of Fire and examined it while sipping from her sake bottle.

**Land of Fire, slightly inland from the border, the next day:**

Shogai and Yakekoge currently were resting against some trees at the edge of a clearing and had been making their way towards civilian villages closer to the leaf. Shogai perked up as he sensed chakra coming from across the clearing, before he said to his partner, "It seems as though we finally attracted some attention."

Yakekoge narrowed his eyes before beginning to walk towards the center of the clearing, before being grabbed on the shoulder by his partner. "Let go of me, I'll take care of them." Yakekoge said while brushing off his partners arm.

"I'd rather take them on myself, as I am feeling kind of stiff myself. I could use a bit of a warm-up." Shogai stated while walking into the clearing.

Yakekoge responded, "You can participate in the fight, but by no means are you fighting them alone. We need to attract Konoha's attention so we'll have to create as much destruction as we can."

Shogai rolled his eyes, "Are you implying I can't cause destruction? Let me show you right-"

The Konoha team who had been assigned a mission from Tsunade arrived into the clearing before the lead jonin demanded, "Stop right there, we won't let you go any further."

Shogai glared at the jonin before saying, "Oh really, we'll see about that," while cracking his knuckles before dashing towards his opponents.

**A few minutes later:**

Shogai pressed his foot down on the severely burnt jonin, cracking a few bones while he writhed in agony. "You did a real good job stopping us you know." Shogai said while spreading his arms towards the wreckage that had ensued on the battlefield. Steam still surrounded the area from water colliding with fire, as indicated by the massive scorch marks strewn across the clearing apart from a massive crater towards the center of it which had a horribly disfigured chunin at its center.

Yakekoge walked towards Shogai pushing the charred corpse of a water user out of the way. "Shogai don't waste our time playing with them, you know what you have to do."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Shogai responded while digging his foot deeper into the jonin's chest before pressing it hard enough to cause the jonin to lose consciousness. The duo then proceeded to leave the battlefield and head towards the leaf village.

**A few hours later:**

A team of Konoha anbu had completed their border watch and was on their way to Konoha before one caught a trace of a former battle. The team quickly investigated the battleground to find three dead chunin and one severely injured jonin.

The jonin coughed up blood after being lifted by an anbu, before saying, "Warn Tsunade-sama, the shinobi who had attacked the civilian villages are at least S-rank, we stood no chance. The village needs to be defended, hurry." After finishing his command to the anbu, the jonin slumped over and the anbu placed his now deceased body down before giving his team mates hand signals before the team headed back to the leaf village to notify the Hokage of the situation that had arisen.

**Konoha, evening:**

The anbu captain notified Tsunade of what he had discovered at the site of the battle, leaving Tsunade to think about how to handle the situation. "Anbu, find me Ibiki, I need to question a prisoner before I can determine exactly what we are dealing with here." One of the anbu on guard quickly shunshinned away to find the master of torture and interrogation, while the Hokage herself quickly headed towards the T&I Department.

**T&I Department:**

Tsunade burst into a room which held the leader of the former missing-nin leader, followed by Ibiki who closed the door behind him. "What the hell do you know Dasu, there is no use keeping your mouth shut anymore! What are your goons trying to do?" Tsunade demanded while slamming her fist on the table which Dasu sat at.

Dasu responded with a grin, "Ah, I got worried for a bit, it's about time that they acted out to save me."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Tsunade asked while glaring daggers at Dasu.

Dasu laughed before grinning cockily, "I'm talking about the elite of my force, I knew it was costly, but at last Dusk will free me!"

Tsunade lifted him by his collar and pulled him up towards her face, "What makes you think that you have any chance of them freeing you?"

"The fact that the Hokage came to personally question me makes me think that. I may be cocky, but that doesn't mean I am stupid, you are in a predicament and want to find out what I know so that you can get out of it. Well, I'll tell you this much, I don't even know what Dusk is capable of, I had my assistant discover stuff about them, but I can guarantee that Yakekoge knows his stuff alright, this Dusk is the real deal." Dasu explained before being thrown into his chair.

"Lock him up and make sure he doesn't escape, I've had enough of this garbage." Tsunade said before leaving the room, leaving Ibiki to deal with the now excited missing-nin leader.

**Konoha, four days later (morning):**

Tsunade had placed many more Anbu on patrol in the areas surrounding the leaf village, but she had not encountered any scenarios close to the Leaf Village. The attacks on civilian villages continued although not as frequent, as if it was a reminder that the threat was imminent. However, Tsunade also had to worry about the funeral which was to be held today to honour all those who had passed on during the war.

Tsunade had to prepare an additional graveyard for those lost in the war, as there was simply too many people lost in the war to fit within Konoha's already crowded graveyard. Additionally, the memorial stone had more names etched onto its surface, such as Neji Hyuga, Shukaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Kakashi Hatake. However, an official funeral was still to be held and although not all of the bodies were recoverable, those which were recoverable would be buried within the crowded graveyard shortly after the funeral.

The funeral was to take place on the Hokage tower as did the funeral of the two previous Hokages and in order to honour the deceased the people who attended the funeral adorned black kimonos. Naruto had recently changed into his own funeral clothing before heading to the Hokage tower to pay respect to those whom he had lost in the war.

After he arrived, he stood alongside his comrades who had fought alongside him during the war as well as the families of the deceased, many of which shed tears at the loss of their loved ones. Naruto specifically stood facing the pictures of the deceased with the members of team 7, namely Sai, Sakura and Sasuke to his left, and his girlfriend to his right, followed by the rest of her team and finally the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

Shikamaru placed his hand on a crying Ino's shoulder as he looked sadly at his father's smiling image on the table in front of the mourners. Hinata became slightly teary eyed after looking at Neji's image, but fought back the tears as Naruto grasped her hand in comfort. "Don't worry Hinata, I took Neji's last words to heart and he will never be forgotten." Hinata nodded in response before turning back towards the pictures of the deceased. 'Kakashi-sensei, you too. I'll always value my comrades over everything else.'

Sasuke stood next to Naruto with a surprisingly somber look, clearly discontent with Kakashi's death as he had been the one to teach him one of his most notable techniques. Sakura shed a few tears, but wiped them away with a re-affirmed strength. Sai even held a frown, which was not in any way faked, as he understood the sacrifices that all the ninja in this war had made, just like his "brother" did.

Tsunade had said a speech in honour of the deceased, before the attendees of the funeral retired to their homes, Naruto saying farewell to his friends before heading back to his apartment to be alone for a little while.

**Hokage's Office, noon:**

Tsunade awaited the team she had requested as she decided that the threat which had been plaguing the Land of Fire and Konoha had to be dealt with, even if it may be immediately after the funeral. Tsunade had learned that these foes were not to be trifled with, so she had to face the threat appropriately with a strong enough team.

The first member of the aforementioned team arrived, earlier than expected. "Hello baa-chan, you called for me?" Naruto asked as he casually entered the room.

"Kid, you know that one of these days I'm going to beat some manners into you." Tsunade said while raising a fist, "Besides, how would you act if someone called you an old man when you were Hokage?"

Naruto shrugged at the question leaving Tsunade to face-palm and await the rest of her requested team. A few minutes of bickering later, there was a knock on the door followed Sakura followed by Hinata entering the room.

"Ah, you are all here." Tsunade said before beginning the mission briefing, "I have gathered you all here today to assign you a mission and a difficult one at the very least. Multiple civilian villages across the Land of Fire have been attacked by mysterious perpetrators. I sent a team out to investigate the attackers and defeat them, but they were no match against them. It was determined that they are extremely proficient fire style users as the team I sent was meant to counter fire style yet there were indications that they had suffered severe burns." Tsunade sighed before continuing, "Truthfully, we have reason to suspect that they are after the missing-nin that you had captured, but even if they are not they would still be a significant threat to the village. I thought that your team would be suitable considering you had recent experience against Dasu and his cronies and might know what we are up against. However, I fear this enemy might be stronger than what you had to experience."

"Just how strong are these attackers?" Sakura asked.

"Strong enough for me to consider sending Sasuke despite his current village restrictions, however I have to abide by village rules. Unfortunately the three of you will have to be a 3 person squad as Sai is still recovering from his previous injuries. The mission I am assigning you is also an S-rank and it must be handled carefully. I have some additional teams on standby as back-up, but considering this team is composed of some of our strongest ninja, I have reason to hope you will not need help." Tsunade sighed while thinking to herself, 'If Kakashi had still been around then maybe we would have a water-style user that could actually counter these guys, I'll have to make sure we train more water style users in the future.' Tsunade then finished relaying the commands for the mission, "You are to set out immediately and I am leaving Naruto Uzumaki in charge of this mission, don't forget the importance of this mission Naruto, I'm leaving a lot in your hands."

"Don't worry _Hokage-sama_, I won't let you down." Naruto said with a grin, before turning to his team mates, "Alright let's meet at the gate in a few minutes."

**Konoha Gates:**

Naruto tied his headband to his head before turning around to face his team mates, "Sakura, Hinata are you ready."

"Yeah," Sakura said while cracking her knuckles.

"We won't let you down Naruto-kun." Hinata said.

Naruto grinned, "Alright, let's do this!" he shouted before leaving the village and beginning the search in the land of fire.

**Land of Fire Forests:**

The team set out with Naruto and Hinata taking the lead followed by Sakura. Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly envious as she eyed the couple, she never expected that Naruto would land a date, but it was as if it slightly rubbed in the fact that Sasuke had barely showed her any attention since he returned to the village. However it did help renew her confidence that Hinata finally got together with the person she had liked for the longest time, so maybe she just did have a chance.

As Sakura thought, Naruto was talking to Hinata, "Hey Hinata, be careful ok?" Naruto asked as they approached the lead that they were given.

Hinata smiled while responding, "Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll be alright."

"Its just that, I don't want to lose anyone else, so I'll protect both you and Sakura to the end." Naruto said, while looking ahead.

"Naruto-kun, I think we will be fine, we just need to be careful that's all." Hinata replied.

Naruto nodded before changing their course to veer towards some smoke in the distance. After arriving at the location, they found the remnants of a small village with no survivors amongst the wreckage. Naruto clenched his fist before saying, "I won't forgive whoever did this, all these innocent people, they probably couldn't even fight back."

Sakura looked somberly at the ground, knowing very well that the civilians who had been attacked could not be saved as the wounds were far too severe. Hinata had been inspecting one of the corpses before gasping as the burns they had suffered were incredibly severe. Naruto signalled for his team to move onwards, leaving behind the wreckage of the village before hunting down whoever had done such an act.

Naruto now took the lead with Hinata and Sakura towards the back, watching in concern as a serious Naruto lead them towards the battle they knew would soon begin. Naruto stopped on a branch and held up his hand, "I sense some chakra at 3 o'clock, Hinata can you check it what it is?" Naruto asked.

"Of course, Byakugan!" Hinata answered while activating her bloodline and looking through the forest for a possible sign of chakra. She found two distant chakra signatures making their way across a grassy field, "I found two ninja approximately 4 kilometers that way."

"Alright thanks Hinata, let's go check it out." Naruto said before heading in the direction which Hinata had spotted the two ninja.

The two aforementioned ninja stopped in the middle of the field, "Yakekoge do you-" one of them asked before being cut off.

"Yes, its about time they sent him, get ready, I guarantee they already sensed us." Yakekoge said before turning towards the large approaching chakra source.

Hinata had her byakugan activated as they approached the location of the two ninja, before gasping as she saw the ninja more clearly, "T-that's that man," she said.

The team stopped, "Who is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's Yakekoge, the one from the missing-nin base, but something is different its almost as if he has different chakra." Hinata explained.

Naruto responded, "I think I know what you are talking about, I can sense a familiarity in the chakra, but there is a lot more of it than before, also it is as if it is more powerful."

Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"

"I guess they somehow got stronger or something, I can't really explain it. Anyways, we shouldn't let them get away, are you both ready?" Naruto asked.

"Y-yes," Hinata said.

"Hell yeah!" Sakura said.

"Alright let's show these bastards some justice." Naruto said before the team headed towards the field.

Naruto's team landed in the field 40 meters away from the two members of Dusk who stood facing him, Yakekoge with his hands at his side, while Shogai had his arms crossed. "Naruto Uzumaki, we have been waiting for you." Yakekoge said stoically.

"You bastards, why would you attack all those defenceless civilians!" Naruto shouted.

"Life is unfair, sometimes things occur which are out of your control, those with more power prey on the weak out of revenge or sometimes even on a whim." Yakekoge explained.

"What the hell kind of explanation is that!" Naruto shouted.

"Hm, this kid is supposed to be the hero of the last war? He sure doesn't act the part." Shogai said while sighing.

"Don't underestimate him, he is certainly powerful. However, his team mates are not too difficult to deal with."

"Not difficult? We defeated you last time!" Sakura argued.

"Hmph, I am impressed, they managed to defeat one of your clones Yakekoge," Shogai said before yawning and stretching, "Who are those two anyways?"

"I believe they are Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga." Yakekoge said while pointing at them respectively, while the two widened their eyes in shock upon discovering that the Yakekoge they had previously defeated was only a clone.

"I guess we'll just have to see how strong the real you is then?" Naruto asked, "But first-"

One of Naruto's clones quickly dashed in from behind Shogai with a rasengan in hand and leapt towards him, "let me get rid of your friend!" the clone shouted.

Shogai slightly tilted his head so he could glimpse at the clone rapidly closing in on his back. Just as the clone was about to hit, he quickly applied chakra to the seal on his right arm, causing a large rectangular shield as large as him to appear, which he quickly repositioned to block the rasengan. The shield began to glow on its front as the rasengan made contact, then it proceeded to absorb the rasengan into the shield. Shogai then grinned, before bringing the massive shield to the ground and crouching behind it while facing it towards the clone, "Fuinjutsu: Chakra Release!" he shouted while making a hand sign with his free right hand, as the shield released an explosive blast of chakra instantly dispelling the clone.

Shogai then proceeded to face the original Naruto and his team before slamming his shield into the ground causing the ground to rumble under its weight, the sound echoing across the field, "Really, is that how you will get rid of me?" he asked.

Naruto clenched his teeth, "These guys get on my nerves."

"Hold on, Yakekoge, you said that girl is Sakura Haruno? As in Tsunade's apprentice?" Shogai asked, only to receive a nod from Yakekoge. "I see, I'm not sure what is wrong with her _apprentice choices,_" he hissed, "but I'm sure as hell that a brat like this girl is a hell of a lot worse than I would've been. Oh well, I guess I get to take out my revenge on this girl instead." Shogai finished while grinning.

Sakura repositioned herself in a defensive position while staring at Shogai before Yakekoge said, "I'm sorry Shogai, but we are going to finish off the weaker ones quickly." As Yakekoge finished he reappeared behind Hinata and Sakura while bringing his tanto towards the back of their necks.

'So fast,' Sakura thought, before bracing for the slash.

The slash however never occurred as Yakekoge received a kick from Naruto sending him flying into the tree line behind his team. "Sakura, Hinata can the two of you take on the shield bastard, I'll take care of Yakekoge."

The two kunoichi nodded before preparing their fighting stances to take on the shield master who stood in front of them, while Naruto made his way to the area where he had kicked Yakekoge, who now stood at the edge of the field.

"I'll never let you hurt my friends," Naruto said.

"I'll just kill you first then," Yakekoge responded while bringing his hands together to prepare hand signs, to which Naruto did the same. The two glared at each other as they knew their fight had officially began.

**A/N: At long last the fight has began, with Yakekoge vs Naruto and Sakura and Hinata vs Shogai. Admittedly there was quite a bit to cover leading to this fight, but we have finally reached it. I can assure you readers that I will put my all in this fight's creation. Let me know what you thought of the chapter and story with a review and thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7: Unbreakable

**A/N: I've got a mainly action-packed chapter here, so I hope all of you readers enjoy. Admittedly it is shorter than some of the previous chapters, but it is leading up to the more exciting part of the fight. I'd like to say thanks to naruto1246 for reviewing on three of my chapters! Thanks a ton naruto1246, it gives me a lot more motivation to write when I get some input. Alright here is the chapter, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto, I do not.**

**Chapter 7: Unbreakable**

**Land of Fire:**

Naruto proceeded to call out, "Lava Style: Scorching Stream Rock Technique" before forming hand signs and firing out molten rocks towards Yakekoge with Son's help. Yakekoge countered this attack by using his trademark fire style jutsu, "Fire Style: Flame Stream!" firing a stream of fire at the rocks. However the lava style technique pushed through the stream of fire sending a few molten rocks crashing towards Yakekoge's location before he quickly jumped onto a tree and pushed off it swiftly landing next to Naruto and beginning a taijutsu fight with him.

Yakekoge threw a few swift upper body strikes to which Naruto blocked before Yakekoge went for a fast and strong punch at Naruto's head. Naruto using his sage sensory powers ducked under the blow before elbowing Yakekoge in the stomach sending him skidding across the ground until he rebalanced himself and charged Naruto again.

Sakura and Hinata stood in a fighting stance facing Shogai who casually rested against his shield before saying, "Let's see what Tsunade's apprentice can really do." he stated. At that remark Sakura charged forward before jumping and pulling her fist. She thought to herself, 'I'll end this quickly' before using some chakra from her Hyakugou seal to strengthen her punch to an incredible level. "Shannaro!" she shouted as she brought her fist towards Shogai, to which he responded by bringing his shield up in defense. 'He's finished.' Sakura thought as the fist was about to collide with the shield, while Shogai smirked on his side of the shield. The fist collided with the shield sending a massive shockwave throughout the entire field, pushing Hinata backwards.

Naruto and Yakekoge paused their fight to glance at the source of the large gust of wind that they had felt before charging each other again. Naruto threw a kick towards Yakekoge's head to which he blocked with both fists before going for a low sweep which Naruto jumped over before forming a rasengan in hand. He dove towards Yakekoge, rasengan in hand, before Yakekoge jumped backwards to avoid the attack before sending a massive fireball towards Naruto. Naruto leapt out of the way and into the treeline before thinking to himself, 'I should be able to beat this bastard without using my Bijuu cloak, but I can't cause any collateral damage that might harm Hinata or Sakura.' Yakekoge then proceeded to use his flame stream again, igniting the forest and sending the stream after Naruto.

Naruto then pushed off a tree and landed next to Yakekoge, throwing a punch causing Yakekoge to cancel his technique before re-engaging in close quarters combat. Yakekoge was forced to go on the defensive as Naruto launched an aggressive barrage of senjutsu-enhanced punches which required Yakekoge to dodge while retreating backwards. Yakekoge then heard an approaching ringing sound from behind to which he turned around to see a rapidly approaching Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. Yakekoge proceeded to do a backflip over the rasenshuriken, only to receive an axe kick in the stomach sending him flying to the ground.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as her fist made contact with the shield, not even remotely denting it. 'How is this possible,' she thought to herself before Shogai pulled the shield backwards before slamming it ferociously at Sakura sending her flying backwards. Hinata caught Sakura and helped her stand back up before they assessed their opponent.

Shogai's feet were in small grooves in the ground, caused by him resisting the powerful punch and he had placed his shield back on the ground while smirking. He then proceeded to remark, "Chakra-enhanced strength? Tsunade certainly taught you, but obviously not well enough. I'm actually glad that she did not take me as her apprentice or else I would be as weak as you." Sakura grimaced at this comment before Shogai continued, "Now perhaps it's time I showed you true strength."

Sakura asked, "How could you block my attack? And what are you saying about Tsunade-sensei?", still standing on alert.

"First off, my shield is incredibly dense so it can withstand incredible amounts of force. In fact it is so dense and heavy that it is impossible to lift without the mastery of chakra-enhanced strength. I had a comrade of mine make it especially for me, then I inscribed this seal," he said while pointing to a seal on the front of the shield, "Which absorbs chakra, as you saw earlier with your friend's attack. Basically, your chakra-enhanced punch was weakened by the seal before you made contact with the shield. As for my history with Tsunade, well let's just say that the gambling bitch didn't take up my request in my time of need, so I lost everything that I wanted to protect." He then proceeded to pick his shield back up, "However this is no time for me to tell you a sob story, I'll finish _you_ and the quiet one quickly before I help Yakekoge."

Hinata then turned towards Sakura, "Sakura-san we are going to have to fight him together, we will need to get around his shield."

"Alright Hinata let's go." Sakura said before cracking her knuckles. Hinata activated her byakugan then brought her hands to her side and formed her twin chakra lions, before both her and Sakura dashed towards their opponent. Shogai picked up his shield before charging towards both of his opponents, holding his shield to his side as he ran.

Sakura threw a chakra enhanced punch at Shogai's undefended right side, but he moved his shield to block the attack. Hinata then proceeded to duck while bringing one of the lions underneath Shogai's shield arm and towards his abdomen. Shogai was aware of her attack and smashed the side of his shield into Hinata knocking her away, before he pulled back a chakra-enhanced fist and smashed it into the ground in front of Sakura sending her flying backwards and leaving a crater with a 10-foot radius. "That was me going easy on you," he said while facing Sakura and placing his shield on the ground.

The clone of Naruto that had thrown the rasenshuriken vanished before the original Naruto walked up to Yakekoge and picked him up by his collar before slamming him into a tree, "Why did you kill all those innocent people?" he barked.

Yakekoge looked into Naruto's eyes, "You'd never understand."

Naruto pushed him further into the tree, "Try me you bastard, why the hell did you do it?"

"I said you'd never understand, you still have a home, but you won't once we are done with it." Yakekoge said.

Naruto lifted him higher, "You really think you can destroy Konoha! I'll defend it until I die. So tell me why the hell you killed all those people!"

"Your village killed almost my entire clan without giving us a chance to fight, I am the only one left with my bloodline, but like I said you'd never understand." Yakekoge said, while slowly flaring more chakra, "Maybe I'll just keep you alive so that you can understand once I am done with your village."

Sakura brought herself back to her feet and began glaring at Shogai who stood facing her with his shield at his side. Hinata brought herself back to her feet, her twin lion fist no longer active, before she brought a hand forward, "Eight Trigrams: Air Palm" she shouted, while sending a blast of air towards Shogai, to which he lazily repositioned his shield to block it. "Don't tell me this is all you've got?" he asked.

"We're just getting started!" Sakura shouted before pulling a kunai from her pouch and throwing it at Shogai. Shogai pulled one of the fuma shuriken from his back before using it to deflect the kunai into the ground. "Which of you want to die first?" he asked while twirling the fuma shuriken around his hand before catching it. "I never liked quiet ones, so I guess I've made my pick." he said before pulling the fuma shuriken backwards before launching it at high speeds towards Hinata.

Hinata dove to the ground before picking herself back up and dashing back towards Shogai at the same time as Sakura. "Hmmph, how can you deal with this," Shogai said pulling another one from his back and leaping backwards forcing the two kunoichi to approach from the same direction. He then proceeded to throw a fuma shuriken towards them before bringing his hands together to make a few hand signs before saying, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu." causing tens of fuma shurikens to form and head towards the two kunoichi. Hinata leapt in front of Sakura before using her Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms(**A/N: AKA Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms Guard**), sending thin blades of chakra to deflect the shuriken. Upon deflecting the final shuriken she ended her technique, only for another shuriken to be thrown the moment she ended her technique.

Sakura saw that Hinata had no means to defend the technique, so she jumped in front of her while activating her Hyakugou seal and took the blow for her. "Sakura-san!" Hinata shouted, before Sakura pulled the fuma shuriken from her back and throwing it into the ground.

"Hinata, don't worry, I activated my seal so that my body will automatically heal itself." Sakura explained, Hinata nodding before Sakura turned back to their opponent.

"So that is the 'Strength of a Hundred Jutsu'? I guess you are a bit better than I thought." he said, while taking his final fuma shuriken off of his back. "Unfortunately, you are not going to be strong enough to defeat me." he finished before rushing towards the two kunoichi.

The two kunoichi charged towards him with a kunai in Sakura's hand while Hinata went in unarmed. Sakura went for a slash with her kunai only to be met by the fuma shuriken which was being used as a melee weapon. Sakura began to put all of her force into the kunai in order to win in the weapon deadlock, while Hinata ran around Shogai and his shield. The kunai Sakura held was not strong enough to withstand all the pressure it had been holding and broke resulting in Shogai stabbing Sakura in the shoulder as she tried to dodge. Hinata lunged from behind him going for a jyuken strike at his back, but Shogai kicked backwards. Hinata dodged the kick and quickly struck sealed off several chakra points in his leg before jumping backwards.

"Damn it!" Shogai exclaimed, his leg moving much slower than usual as he recovered to a standing position. Sakura stood up while removing the shuriken from her shoulder and threw it to the ground. Shogai took advantage of this moment by pushing off with his good leg and preparing a chakra-enhanced punch to finish off Sakura. Sakura stumbled backwards in an attempt to escape, but the fist hit the ground in front of her annihilating the ground and sending out a massive shockwave send her flying into the treeline on the other side of the field. Hinata was also caught in the massive radius of the fist sending her skidding across the ground before coming to a stop a few hundred feet from the impact point.

The crater caused by Shogai's attack extended for a 100 meter radius and caused fissures in the ground surrounding it, having greatly decimated the field. Naruto turned to look at what had caused the commotion while he still held Yakekoge by the collar. "It seems Shogai defeated your friends. Now I just need to finish you off." Yakekoge said.

"You bastard, you already lost and my friends would never lose that easily!" Naruto argued while sensing the area to find his friends were still alive.

Yakekoge's chakra flared to the point that blue chakra could be seen before it started to form around his body. "We're just getting started, I'm done testing you." Yakekoge said, before the chakra erupted in flames burning Naruto's hands as he jumped back. Flames constantly were emitted from Yakekoge's form with forming flaming red chakra armor around him before the clothes he wore began to burn away under the intense heat. The bandana around his face burned away revealing the face of a girl in her young 20's and the loose kimono burned away revealing a tight fitting red body suit that revealed a slender female form, with dark brown anbu plating over the body suit. The woman's clothing was obviously fire-proof and she would be described as beautiful if it wasn't for the scowl she held on her face.

'Yakekoge' spoke in a now stern deeper feminine voice, "Allow me to show you the power of my fire release armour, a technique that I, Hiiro(scarlet) last of the Hono(flame) clan created."

Naruto prepared himself to fight against his opponent who apparently was actually named Hiiro as she stood glaring at Naruto. Naruto gulped slightly as he raised his fists in preparation to fight hatred filled kunoichi who stood facing him.

**Outside Konoha:**

A figure sat in a tree outside the village with his eyes closed as he sensed the area, "Uzumaki Naruto is no longer in the village, I can now continue my plan unhindered," the man said while opening his eyes revealing his two sharrinnegan eyes before he vanished from that location leaving no traces that he had ever been there.

**Konoha Training Grounds:**

Sasuke paused his training as he sensed something amiss, he couldn't quite describe the feeling which he was feeling, but it was as if there was a manifestation of familiar chakra. He took a seat and meditated trying to recognized what he had sensed, it was almost as if it was similar to the kind of chakra displayed when Madara and Kaguya used the eyes on their foreheads. He decided it must be residue from the abuse of his own rinnegan technique, so he resumed his training, dismissing the feeling.

**Konoha's new grave site:**

"It's hard to believe that this is actually Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja." one of the pallbearers said as he brought a wooden coffin towards the site of the grave.

"He was one of the strongest in the leaf, so the battles in this war must have been pretty intense." another one remarked.

"I hear that he was killed by a god." the third one remarked.

"Regardless of how he was killed, he deserves to rest in peace, not next to that damned mass murder Obito." the final one remarked.

The other three pallbearers nodded before they arrived at the grave before preparing to set another coffin in a grave in addition to the hundreds they had already placed. The group prepared to make their way back to pick up the next coffin before a figure appeared before them.

"Who the hell are-" the lead pallbearer said before looking in the man's purple sharrinnegan eyes before slumping to the ground alongside his colleagues.

The man then walked up to the two gravestones of Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha which were side by side. "A shinobi's knowledge and techniques are supposedly retained in their bodies, so let's see what is retained within each of yours, Kakashi Hatake and Obito Uchiha."

The man walked up to Kakashi's grave before peering down into and preparing to fall into the grave before he heard a voice.

"You have a lot of nerve to defile the corpses of two of my childhood friends, perhaps you need to understand the power of youth!" the voice shouted.

The man turned around to see a man in crutches wearing green spandex and a chunin-vest with incredibly bushy eyebrows and a bowl cut. "You are not in any condition to stop me, so I would recommend you turn a blind eye to this before I kill you."

"I will never let you touch my eternal rival, no matter what condition I am in!" Gai shouted while launching himself with his single good leg and using a crutch as a weapon. The man grabbed him by the throat while staring into Gai's eyes placing him under a genjutsu, before he set him on the ground. The man then proceeded to step into Kakashi's grave before opening the lid of his coffin and examining his corpse.

**A/N: Who is Hiiro/Yakekoge? What is the leader of Dusk doing with Kakashi and Obito's bodies? Well I guess you'll have to wait until later to find out. Unfortunately I am doubting I will have an opportunity to update over this week, but I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the fight so far!**


	8. Chapter 8: Clan War

**A/N: I somehow managed to update quickly despite being busier than usual. So anyways, this story's first flashback occurs in this chapter so I guess there's that to look forward towards. I'd like to thank naruto1246 for reviewing on the last chapter. You'll get a little glimpse of Hiiro's flame armour this chapter. Here's the chapter, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto. I can't really say much else to make a disclaimer more interesting.**

**Chapter 8: Clan War**

**Field in the Land of Fire:**

Naruto stood facing Hiiro in her fire release armour before he asked, "Just who the hell are you?"

"I am a remnant of my clan just as you are. I am the only one left to avenge my clan and I intend to, starting with your death _Uzumaki_." Hiiro said with particular venom.

"Well what did the Leaf do to your clan, there must have been a misunderstanding or something." Naruto countered.

"Slaughtering almost my entire clan in the dead of night with the help of the Uzumaki is hardly a misunderstanding. I gave the civilian villages an equal chance as my clan had to survive." Hiiro replied.

Naruto's eyes widened, "What do you mean by the Uzumaki? Konoha would never do such a thing and neither would my clan! Also revenge is no reason to kill innocents!" he shouted.

"You really don't know anything about your clan do you? I guess I'll enlighten you so that you understand why I'm going to kill you." Hiiro said before beginning to tell her story from the start, thinking back to one of her earliest memories.

_Flashback (__**A/N: NOOOO not a flashback!**__):_

A 4 year-old Hiiro with long dark and light red hair sat in a small wooden house while playing with some toys, before another kid walked into the room. The other child was 9 years-old and wore his dark red and light red hair in a ponytail.

"Hiiro, mom said that it's time for bed, so tidy up your toys." the boy said.

"B-but nii-san just a few more minutes." Hiiro argued.

The older brother sighed, "Fine, but don't blame me if mom gets angry."

Hiiro ran up to her older brother and hugged him, "Thank you Yake nii-san."

The older brother rubbed the back of his head, "Eh, get off of me Hiiro and call me by my full name, Yakekoge." he announced clearly proud of his name.

Hiiro pouted before going back to playing with her toys while her brother stood idly by the door watching. A few minutes later the door opened and a woman with short dark red hair came into the room. She smacked Yakekoge on the head, before he exclaimed, "Ouch mom what was that for!"

The woman responded, "I thought I told you to put your sister to bed."

"Uhh, yeah, but it's not like she has to do anything the next day." Yakekoge answered.

"Mommy, why is our hair different than yours?" Hiiro asked her mom.

Yakekoge sighed, "Hiiro how many times do you ask this question?"

"I-I forgot!" Hiiro exclaimed.

Hiiro's mother bent down to Hiiro's eye level before beginning to speak, "You see Hiiro, your bright and lighter red hair is from your father, as he is from the Hono clan and it is a trademark characteristic for their clan members."

"What about your hair mommy?" Hiiro asked.

Her mother smiled softly, "My hair is a trait from my clan, although I am no longer part of it. Remember, my clan name cannot be mentioned around here, but remember what to do if you see someone else with my hair?"

Hiiro ducked down and put her hands on her head to imitate hiding.

Hiiro's mother smiled while patting her child's head, "Good girl, I'm glad you remember, it's really important that you hide."

Yakekoge frowned at this, knowing the truth behind the distinct hair colour, but he decided not to comment as his mother helped his younger sister tidy up her toys before bringing her to bed. Yakekoge took a seat at a table in the family kitchen awaiting his mother's return.

"Mother, why are we hiding from your clan?" he asked as his mother came back into the kitchen.

"Sweety, it's because the Hono have been at war with the Uzumaki for a really long time. I chose to leave the clan for your father, but one day I hope that we can have peace between the two clans." his mother explained, "After all I wouldn't ever want to have you fighting against them."

"Mom, have a little faith in me, I could easily beat them!" Yakekoge said while grinning and giving himself a thumbs-up.

"Baka!" his mom shouted while hitting him on the head, before covering her mouth at her outburst, "Go to sleep and don't wake up your sister."

Unbeknownst to both of them Hiiro stood behind the door to the kitchen and quietly muttered the name she had overheard in the conversation, "Uzumaki?"

_End flashback:_

"The Uzumaki and Hono clans became enemies during the third shinobi world war, as we both were known for our distinct clan abilities. The Uzumaki were especially known for their sealing jutsu which won many battles, in fact some of the major villages assumed that the Fourth Hokage's teleportation jutsu was of Uzumaki origin. The clan faked their village's destruction as they had too many enemies at the time, only with us their archenemies and the Leaf, their most important allies knowing of their existence." Hiiro explained.

"I don't understand, what caused all your hatred then?" Naruto asked.

"It all happened the day of the attack." Hiiro replied while clenching her fists in anger.

_Flashback _**(A/N: Hiiro is telling Naruto what happened in this flashback)**_:_

A five-year old Hiiro patiently awaited her 10 year-old brother who was to arrive home from training. After hearing the door unlock she eagerly ran to it and hugged her brother her entered. "Yakekoge, you should see what I learned from sensei today!" Hiiro exclaimed.

"Sorry Hiiro, I'm kind of tired, Dad has been training me hard in preparation of the possible fight against the Uzumaki." Yakekoge blatantly said, not really paying attention to what he said.

"B-but, Mom is an Uzumaki, why would you want to fight her?" Hiiro asked.

Yakekoge instantly covered his mouth after realizing that he had said too much, "Listen Hiiro, remember what Mom said before, she is now part of the Hono clan, the Uzumaki are our enemy remember?"

Hiiro nodded before Yakekoge brought Hiiro to bed before he felt a shake. 'An earthquake?' he thought to himself, 'No, this is something else, but what.'

The door burst open and his mother burst in the door panting, "Yakekoge, go to get your sister and hide, we're being attacked!"

"By who!" Yakekoge asked while his mom slammed the door shut.

"Just go!" his mother responded before bracing the door shut.

Yakekoge quickly ran into Hiiro's bedroom and woke her up. "What is it Yake?" a sleepy Hiiro asked.

"I need you to hide Hiiro, OK?" Yakekoge asked before shutting the door to the room.

"What's wrong?" Hiiro asked before Yakekoge signalled for her to hide under the bed.

"We're being attacked." Yakekoge explained before hiding beside the doorway and blowing out the candle in the room while pulling out a kunai.

"I'm scared." Hiiro explained looking towards Yakekoge with tears in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll always protect you Hiiro." Yakekoge explained with determination in his eyes, before he pressed his head to the door to listen through it. He heard the front door slam open before he heard footsteps in the house.

"We've found her at last, let's bring her back to the village." one male voice explained.

"Ure-chan, what happened to you here, what did they do to you?" a female voice asked.

"This is my home now, I'm not going back with you." Yakekoge heard his mother explain before hearing a gasp.

"Unfortunately this is not your choice, as a member of Konoha's ANBU, I have strict orders to bring you back to Uzushiogakure." the male voice explained.

"And what if I refuse." Yakekoge's mother explained.

"Then we'll take you by force." the other voice explained before Yakekoge heard the sound of metal clashing against metal before hearing a thud.

Yakekoge rushed out of the room with a kunai in hand only to see a dead Konoha anbu member and his mother with a sword through a woman with dark red hair.

"I'm sorry." his mother said while tears streamed down her face while facing her friend.

"It's ok, I understand, we thought you were kidnapped, but I guess you came here because you love him." her friend explained before she collapsed forwards onto the sword before his mother pulled the sword out of the body.

"Mom, what just happened?" Yakekoge asked, his sister crawling out from under the bed to see if her mother was safe.

"Don't worry Yakekoge, just protect your sister." Hiiro's mother explained while smiling and facing towards her before her face turned into an expression of shock. She fell to the ground before landing face down, a kunai having pierced her back. Two ninja with Konoha headbands and flak jackets stood behind an ANBU member.

"There's been a change of plans, Root is now in charge of this operation, we are to eliminate all threats to the Leaf in this village." the lead ANBU explained before one of the two Konoha ninjas left to inform the other attackers. The ANBU then made his way to retrieve his kunai from Yakekoge's deceased mother while the other ninja noticed Yakekoge standing in the room.

"Hiiro get out of here!" Yakekoge shouted, while Hiiro froze on the spot staring in shock at her deceased mother.

The Konoha pulled out a kunai before charging Yakekoge who met the kunai with his own. Yakekoge held his kunai in a deadlock with a single hand before he began to form handsigns with the other hand before quickly igniting the Konoha ninja in flames before he could even react. The ANBU charged towards Yakekoge with a kunai in hand before engaging him in a kunai battle, while pushing him back. He quickly disarmed Yakekoge before grabbing him in a chokehold.

"Danzo-sama has at long last ordered the end of your accursed clan, so I guess rules the Yondaime applied to this mission are now off the table." the ANBU stated before raising a kunai to Yakekoge's neck. He began to bring down the kunai as Hiiro screamed, but the kunai never made contact. The ANBU fell to the ground with his throat slashed, a figure standing behind him.

"Tou-san?" Yakekoge asked while panting on the floor.

The man had bright red hair which was cut very short in an almost military style haircut. "Yakekoge, bring your sister outside of the village, I'll meet you out there with any other survivors I can find." he commanded in a deep-voice before leaving out the front door, only offering a passing glance at his wife's body.

"Yakekoge, what do we do?" Hiiro asked quietly.

"I'll protect you Hiiro, we're leaving this place." Yakekoge explained before letting a tear fall as he looked at his mother's body.

"Say goodbye to your mother Hiiro." Yakekoge said while he stood at the door.

Tears streamed down Hiiro's face as she hugged her mother's body before muttering a few words. She then proceeded to follow Yakekoge to the outskirts of the village.

**Two years later:**

A 7 year-old Hiiro stood alongside her now 12 year-old brother as they observed a map alongside thirteen other shinobi all with the distinct Hono clan hair. The leader of the group was pointing to different locations on the map of what appeared to be a city. After relaying instructions to each shinobi he then turned to Hiiro and her brother. "Yakekoge, I'm going to need you to support us as we attack from the front entrance. Defend us as we make our way into the city and make sure you don't let anyone approach from behind and seal us. Don't let us down." he explained.

"I won't father." Yakekoge replied before tying a red bandana over his face and equipping some anbu style armour over his body.

"Hiiro, I need you to watch the village's entrance for reinforcements, if you see anyone coming, notify Yakekoge with a fire style jutsu then wait for him to arrive before you deal with them." Hiiro's father explained.

"I won't fail tou-san." Hiiro replied.

"Now that everyone knows their tasks, we shall begin the attack. We have waited two years in preparation, now we finally enact our revenge, this is the end of Uzushiogakure and the Uzuamaki." Hiiro's father explained, "Let's go."

**Two Hours Later:**

Hiiro stood on a hill alert observing the path leading to the Uzushiogakure, trying to concentrate over the sound of explosions and fighting. She turned to look at the unhinged gate to the village to see her older brother running towards her.

"Yakekoge what is going on? Why are you out here?" she shouted while her brother approached.

"Hiiro we need to get out of here quickly!" Yakekoge shouted before grabbing Hiiro and throwing her on his shoulders.

"Why? What about tou-san!" she shouted.

"He's performing a really powerful jutsu using our bloodline, he told me to get you as far away as possible or else we'll die. He wants us to live on and keep the clan alive." Yakekoge explained.

"Is he going to-" Hiiro asked while looking back towards the village.

Yakekoge's lack of a response was enough for Hiiro to understand as tears began to pour down her face. She struggled to keep them in and wiped the existing tears away before she saw a massive transparent golden dome rise in the center of the village. The dome was created with massive golden chains and had a sealing matrix passing between each chain-link. Hiiro gasped at the sheer size and complexity of it causing Yakekoge to pause and look behind him to observe the same seal. 'That can't be good, a seal that strong prevents anything from getting out of it, I guess father lost, I'm doubting attacks powered by our bloodline could even get out of it.' Yakekoge thought to himself before setting Yakekoge down, both of them a significant distance from the village, with only the large scale sealing jutsu and the village walls being visible.

Hiiro then pointed towards the village, "Yakekoge look!", she shouted.

Yakekoge narrowed his eyes at a small flame in the middle of the massive sealing jutsu before the land darkened significantly despite the sun being in the sky. Hiiro then asked her brother, "What is going on Yakekoge?"

"I really don't know Hiiro." Yakekoge replied.

The area around them had significantly darkened almost as if there was cloud cover over them, before they notice that the area where the small flame was was glowing radiantly as if all the sunlight that had been dispersed over the area had been focussed in a single point. The two children then observed a massive explosion of fire from within the sealing jutsu, its brightness almost being blinding, but the flames were held within the sealing jutsu. Yakekoge held his sister protectively as he prepared for the aftershock of the explosion, but he could never have predicted what happened. He felt an immense heat, almost at the point where it could have killed him, which passed through him and also affected Hiiro. Immediately after he felt the rumble from the explosion before he turned to face the village where he observed the massive sealing jutsu almost instantly fall apart.

Yakekoge then fell to the ground panting for air as he tried to recover from the extreme heat burst, Hiiro doing the same before they both collapsed. 'Whatever jutsu that was must have wiped out everyone, I don't think that there will be any survivors.' he thought before losing consciousness beside his sister.

The two of them explored the village the next day only to witness a mostly intact village apart from some building being damaged in the attack, but they found corpses littered all across the village, most of them without any marks even on their body, but Yakekoge knew that the heat alone would have instantly killed them. The two approached the center of what was once the thriving Uzushiogakure only to witness a scorched crater in the center and the area littered with ashes and scorched bodies. Yakekoge decided that his sister had seen enough and set off with her to begin a new life.

_End flashback_

Naruto's eyes widened at hearing the tale of the destruction of his clan's village, before shouting, "Your clan destroyed my clan in the end, why the hell are you still seeking revenge! In fact, you are part Uzumaki, how can you even think like this!"

"Don't you dare lump me in with those murderers, my mother was part of our clan, she renounced her Uzumaki name, I am purely from the Hono clan." Hiiro replied.

"You just don't understand do you?" Hiiro continued, "Your clan and the Leaf killed my family and massacred my village, eventually even my brother was killed too. Konoha was left unpunished for what they did and you're damned clan continues to live scattered throughout the nations. I will never be finished seeking revenge until my clan has one this war and I'll be one step closer after I kill you."

"I'll just beat some sense into you then! Revenge never gets you anywhere." Naruto shouted, while thinking about the dark path Sasuke took while he was fixated on revenge.

"I'm done wasting my time talking to you, just give up alongside your clan and face the fate that they deserve!" Hiiro shouted, before pulling out her tanto and holding it outwards towards Naruto.

Naruto shifted slightly to prepare for the attack before narrowly dodging a tanto strike aimed for his stomach by bending his body outwards and away from the tanto. 'She's fast.' Naruto thought before landing, 'That fire style armour makes her almost as fast as the Raikage.'

Hiiro then sheathed her tanto, deciding that she would be a greater advantage facing Naruto with flame enhanced taijutsu. She quickly closed the distance between her and Naruto before sending a quick flurry of punches towards him. Naruto attempted to dodge most of them, only getting slight burns from being so close to the flames, but he was forced to block one attack, burning his arm and pushing him back a few feet.

'Damn, not only does the armour make her faster, but it makes her stronger and her attacks burn. I can't let her get too close.' Naruto thought before accessing some of Son's chakra again and calling out "Lava Style: Scorching Stream Rock Jutsu!" and sending a stream of lava rocks towards Hiiro.

Hiiro dashed towards Naruto avoiding the first few magma rocks before she elbowed one of them, destroying it while remaining unscathed and proceeding through the opening she had created. She closed the distance between her and Naruto only face a rapidly expanding rasengan that Naruto was pushing towards her. "Senpou: Oodama Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as the rasengan approached Hiiro.

Hiiro quickly evaded the technique before reappearing behind Naruto and kicking him forwards alongside his rasengan which collapsed and exploded sending him tumbling across the ground before he picked himself up. 'I can barely keep up with her without my bijuu cloak, I probably have to use it soon.' Naruto thought as he dodged Hiiro who began another barrage of attacks forcing Naruto backwards towards the tree line and away from the crater Shogai had previously created. As Naruto retreated he formed his hand into a familiar hand sign before creating two clones and catching a punch that Hiiro had thrown and holding onto her fist as the two clones punched her in the stomach sending her flying backwards. The two clones and the original Naruto all suffered some burns, the clones dispelling due to having a bit less durability and chakra than Naruto's normal clones.

Shogai made his way out of the crater he had created and began walking away from the fight which was ensuing between Naruto and Hiiro. He reached the edge of the crater and limped towards Hinata who was trying to pick herself up after being caught in the collateral of his attack. "I always knew that the quiet ones are a pain." he said while approaching Hinata with a slight limp.

Hinata picked herself up before shouting, "Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!" and sending a blast of air towards Shogai who lifted up his shield to easily block the attack. Shogai quickly closed the distance between the two of them despite his injured leg and grabbed Hinata by the throat and lifted her up with his free hand.

"You sure are a persistent aren't you?" Shogai said while slowly adding pressure to his grip while Hinata tried to pull of his hand. She then proceeded to block off a few chakra points in his arm causing him to loosen his grip slightly before tightening it again and slowly squeezing the life out of her. "Hmph, I guess your attack wasn't good enough was it. I'm doubting your pink-haired teammate is coming back from that attack, so I guess you're the only one left before I go and kill your blond haired friend." Shogai said while choking Hinata.

'Sakura-san, Naruto-kun, I'm sorry I failed you both.' Hinata thought as darkness began to slowly encompass her sight, before she gave one last effort to escape from Shogai's grip, but to no avail.

Naruto summoned several clones who were engaging Hiiro in close quarters combat, but were having little success compared to her speed and fire armour. However, they still managed to get in a few punches here and there, leaving Hiiro bruised as she defeated the last clone. A now slightly chakra-exhausted Naruto charged towards the weakened Hiiro before he stumbled and was kicked backwards into a tree.

**Konoha Training Grounds:**

Sasuke paused his training yet again upon sensing the strange chakra he had sensed before again, before it vanished. He sighed, preparing to go investigate the location, before he sensed Naruto's life force dwindle slightly through the connection between the two of them as a result of the abilities gained from the Sage of Six Paths. 'Hn, the Dobe can't do anything by himself can he?' Sasuke thought while scoffing before leaving the training ground while being followed by ANBU.

**Field in the Land of Fire:**

Naruto struggled to push himself of the tree as Hiiro pulled her tanto from her back before pointing it towards Naruto. "I guess this is the end Uzumaki, not only did you fail your friends, but you guaranteed their deaths alongside your villages destruction." Hiiro said before funneling chakra into her tanto, "However, their deaths are justified, as is yours."

Naruto then pushed himself from the tree before shakily standing up, "Let me tell you bastards something." Naruto said.

Hiiro had no intention of letting Naruto finish his little speech so she through the tanto at incredible speeds towards Naruto's heart.

Naruto then lifted his finger before a small trail of yellow chakra trailed off it. He then enveloped himself in his Sage of Six Path's Bijuu cloak quickly deflecting the tanto with a gudo-dama before he charged Hiiro and formed a rasengan in hand. "I won't let anyone ever hurt my friends!" Naruto shouted pushing his rasengan forward.

Hiiro attempted to dodge the attack, but still was hit in the side sending her flying into the crater that Shogai had previously created. "And no one EVER," Naruto started while forming a rasengan before he quickly dashed to Shogai's location before appearing in front of him. "EVER hurts my girlfriend!" he shouted before smashing the rasengan into Shogai's stomach sending him flying back into the crater causing him to drop Hinata. Naruto quickly caught Hinata bridal style before she hit the ground.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata mumbled while coarsely breathing due to having her esophagus damaged.

"Don't worry Hinata, it's alright, just rest for now." he said while he gently placed her on the ground while resting her head against him. He then formed a hand sign before a shadow clone popped into existence.

"Bring her to Sakura quickly, I'll deal with these two." Naruto ordered, his clone nodding before gently picking up Hinata before quickly dashing away to Sakura's location. Naruto then proceeded to walk to the crater with a serious look, glaring down at his two opponents who stood side-by-side.

Shogai loosened his now damaged armour before dropping it to the ground, leaving him in a black undershirt, the armour crashing into the ground due to its heavy weight. "He's pretty damn fast now isn't he, uhhh-" Shogai stated.

"It's Hiiro." Hiiro stated while flaring her chakra armour slightly in preparation of the upcoming fight.

"Alright Hiiro, you can explain all this Yakekoge crap to me later, but we're taking down this kid now." Shogai said, with Hiiro nodding in acknowledgment.

"Try all you want, but I'm not going to go easy on the two of you." Naruto said while forming two short staves from his gudo-dama.

**A/N: Alright that's the end of this chapter. This was a pretty flashback heavy chapter, but it revealed some important information and also revealed a sneak peek at how powerful Hiiro's clan was. Let me know what you thought of the chapter(and Hiiro/Yakekoge's little back story) with a review. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9: Flare

**A/N: Sorry about how long it took for me to post this slightly shorter chapter, I was kind of wallowing in self pity and some random other stuff :P. Anyways, I'd like to thank zigmas for reviewing. I am aware that many readers may be confused as to how the story is following the summary, but I guarantee all questions will be answered soon. The arc you see now is the introduction arc, as it is leading up to the major arcs, notably the ones with the "Enemies from Another Time". However, one of the "Enemies from Another Time" was hinted at in an earlier chapter. Now let's jump into this chapter:**

**Chapter 9: Flare**

Naruto stood facing his two opponents with a unbreakable stern gaze, holding two short staves created from his gudo-dama. Shogai shifted slightly uncomfortably at his presence, while Hiiro pumped more chakra into her armour, causing the chakra flames to emit further from her body. "Hmph, the kids got some presence, no more playing around." Shogai stated, before he quickly sent out a flare of chakra opening his previously sealed chakra points, before realigning his shield.

The two parties observed each other, neither side making any movements until Hiiro slightly shifted her stance, resulting in yellow blur descending into the crater. Naruto swung the short staff in his right hand with incredible ferocity at Hiiro's head, the staff bending slightly due to the speed. Hiiro barely managing to react bent her body, narrowly avoiding the attack, but receiving a knee to the stomach knocking her back towards her partner. Naruto did not let up on his assault, quickly following up his previous attack with a charge before he brought the staff in his left hand above his head, about to smash into Hiiro's location before she quickly propelled herself off the ground, desperately trying to avoid the angered jinchuriki.

Hiiro landed behind her partner as the staff collided with the ground, effectively creating an additional crater within the crater they had been fighting in. Naruto quickly proceeded to fire two of his gudo-dama in their ball forms towards Hiiro's location, only to be met by Shogai's shield, creating a massive echo as the objects met. Shogai then attempted to absorb the gudo-dama to no success, as the seal on the shield began to lose its power as the chakra that had been used to create it was being negated by the balls. Shogai quickly pulled his shield away from the truth-seeking balls, before using it to block a scissor attack from Naruto's short staves.

Hiiro began to go through some hand signs as Naruto's attack connected, before Naruto proceeded to fire 3 gudo-dama from almost point blank range at Shogai from over his shield, while still pushing against the shield. Shogai was forced to abandon his shield, as he leapt away from it while barely avoiding a direct impact from the balls, but being launched back by their impact.

Hiiro jumped over his recovering comrade before shouting, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" before firing a flaming dragon head towards Naruto. Naruto had a gudo-dama quickly shift in front of him before forming a rounded barrier between him and the flames, causing the flames to disperse on the barrier, leaving Naruto unharmed. Shogai picked himself up before applying chakra to the seal on his arm, releasing a single fuma shuriken, before he applied more chakra, releasing another. He then proceeded to pick up both shuriken by the holes in their centers, wielding them as one handed weapons as he awaited for Naruto to resume his attack.

"We're going on the offensive Shogai, we can't win this battle defensively." Hiiro ordered, only to receive a hesitant nod from the usually comment overusing man.

Naruto reformed the shield he had made into its original form, before jumping over Shogai's shield, letting it fall to the ground behind him as he stood again facing his opponents. However unlike the first scuffle, this time both parties charged towards each other. Hiiro met Naruto first due to her superior speed, going for a swift kick to his side as she dodged a side swing from the short staff in Naruto's right hand. Naruto swung the staff in his left hand downwards at the now sideways Hiiro, only to be blocked by a fuma shuriken.

Hiiro's kick connected with Naruto, sending him staggering back with a slight burn mark on his cloak, before he blocked a diagonal slash of Shogai's fuma shuriken aimed for his chest with his staff. The staff and shuriken battled for supremacy, the shuriken pushing the short staff downwards, before the shuriken abruptly broke, unable to handle the pressure exerted from Shogai. The fuma shuriken immediately banked towards, impaling itself into the ground, bringing Shogai downwards with it before he was hit in the side by Naruto's other short staff, sending him flying across the battlefield.

Hiiro landed next to her partner, aiding him in standing up before hearing him mutter, "Stupid low quality shuriken." Shogai then continued, "Where the hell were you?"

"I was getting a weapon." Hiiro stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world while lifting her tanto in front of her and funneling some fire chakra into it.

"Fine, then give me a chance to get mine." Shogai grumbled before pulling his remaining fuma shuriken behind him before charging towards Naruto again, quickly followed by Hiiro. Shogai quickly threw the shuriken as he approached Naruto before he quickly made some hand signs and called out, "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!" before the fuma shuriken quickly multiplied. Hiiro seeing an opportunity to perform a large scale attack, went through a string of hand signs before shouting, "Fire Style: Great Phoenix Sage Fire!", sending a large barrage of giant fireballs alongside the shuriken shadow clones, some of the shuriken even being ignited by the fire jutsu.

Naruto observed the collaboration technique, before he held his staves in front of him before they began to expand into a sphere entirely surrounding him**(A/N: Imagine it as something like what Gaara made during the Chunin exam finals)**. A few fireballs and flaming shuriken pelted the sphere, but they did not cause any damage to the sphere, leaving it perfectly intact.

Shogai took this opportunity to quickly pick up his shield before charging towards the sphere, as Hiiro stood idly in preparation outside of the sphere. The two members of Dusk had no idea what to expect as the sphere remained completely enclosed, but Shogai felt a pulse in his pocket. He took the opportunity in the fight to pull out the signal seal given by his leader which signified that they had clearance to begin their attack against Konoha.

"Hiiro, we can attack Konoha now, our _leader_ is finally done." Shogai stated bluntly, placing a slightly disrespectful tone when saying the word leader.

Hiiro nodded, while ignoring Shogai's tone towards their leader before responding, "I'd suggest we take care of him first. He'll pose too much of a threat if we leave him alive."

"Alright, get ready." Shogai said before he jumped with his shield in hand, bringing his right hand back while enhancing it with a large amount of chakra.

Shogai fell towards the sphere Naruto was contained within while bringing his fist towards it, intending to destroy the shield with a single chakra-enhanced punch. The fist made contact with the black dome, before causing small fissures to appear in the dome, which quickly expanded outwards, before causing the dome to cave in. However, what Shogai was not expecting was a loud screeching sound which began to emit from within the collapsing dome. Shogai's eyes widened as he saw Naruto holding some kind of wind shuriken in each hand, before he quickly brought his shield in front of him in some attempt to protect himself against the technique.

"I'll never allow you bastards to attack my village!" Naruto shouted before throwing one of his Wind Style: Rasenshurikens at point blank range towards Shogai. Immediately following the first throw, he threw the other one directly at Hiiro. Shogai's shield was unable to absorb the rasenshuriken as a result of the techniques complexity and while preventing the rasenshuriken from hitting him, it didn't prevent the rasenshuriken from pushing Shogai, along with the shield he was holding, into the sky where it expanded. Shogai was protected from the deadly effects of the wind style attack, but he was blasted alongside his shield across the battlefield, crashing into the wall of the crater before slumping downwards unconscious.

Hiiro narrowly ducked under the rasenshuriken heading towards her, determined not to have a repetition of her first encounter with the technique. However, instead of delivering an axe kick to Hiiro, Naruto had a different plan as he quickly dashed behind his rasenshuriken with a single short staff in tow. Naruto lifted the short staff above his head before bringing it downwards with both hands towards Hiiro as she was still bent down from dodging the rasenshuriken. Hiiro quickly twisted her body to grab the short staff in defense before it could hit her, much to her downfall.

The ninjutsu cancelling abilities of the truth-seeking substance repelled the fire chakra from her hand giving her less strength in pushing against the staff. Naruto quickly saw an opportunity in Hiiro's mistake and quickly pulled the staff with Hiiro still on it, while he quickly spun in a circle before slamming Hiiro into the ground, leaving her bruised and injured within a crater.

"It's over." Naruto said, while staring down at Hiiro, "Give up on your hate, you are also an Uzumaki and I'm sure we'd be willing to help you in our village. I know how it feels to be alon-"

"Shut up. You don't understand, I had everything taken from me one-by-one so don't try to let your petty words get to me. Understand that this is a fight to the death, this is a matter between clans and you should never show sympathy to your opponents." Hiiro said while shifting and slightly picking herself from the crater.

Naruto frowned at this before saying, "I don't think you can go any further, so I'll drag you to the Leaf if I have to."

Hiiro stood fully, before letting the fire armour that surrounded her grow slightly larger as she funnelled more chakra into it. A smirked plastered itself on her face, before she started laughing, "Uzumaki, this is the end of your clan, the only thing that will be dragged around is your dead body!" she shouted almost maniacally.

"**Kit, you can sense that chakra right? Be careful, somehow its getting a lot more powerful." **Kurama stated, while Naruto stood looking at the red clad ninja in front of him.

Hiiro fell to one knee as the fire armour surrounding her grew to several feet. The chakra suddenly shrunk around her body changing to a very bright red hue, stabilizing around her body as her original flame armour had, only the chakra appearing much more thick, making it much less transparent. Hiiro shakily stood up, the flame armour burning intensely, Naruto feeling the heat from where he stood.

Naruto stood analyzing the new chakra shell surrounding his opponent before thinking 'What the hell is this power? Her chakra has a completely different feeling n-.'

Naruto couldn't even react as he received an incredibly fast punch to his stomach blasting him backwards, causing him to spit out blood before he tumbled upon the ground before struggling to stand up. The area of his stomach which the punch made contact with had severe scorch marks on it, causing Naruto some slight pain as he knew that beneath his cloak he had also been burnt on his skin. However, Naruto was not given a chance to properly recover as he was quickly grabbed by the throat and thrown into the ground, his gudo-dama quickly attempting to hit his attacker, but reaching the location way too late as said attacker had reappeared with a foot on Naruto pressing onto his chest causing him to cough up some more blood.

"I'm sure you are wondering how I became so strong." Hiiro began while pressing further on Naruto's chest, causing him to writhe in agony as the flames burnt his chest the longer it was in contact with it, "The power you are witnessing is the power of the Hono clan's blood line. The power that made us rivals to the famed Uzumaki sealing clan. The power you see here is known as 'Flare Style'" Hiiro paused while bending down closer to Naruto's face. "Flare Style is a unique kekkai genkai as instead of merging two different elements into a single element, it merges fire chakra with our very life force. The least that I can tell you is that it is very deadly, for both you and I." Hiiro finished.

_Flashback_

A 10 year old Hiiro stood across from her 15 year old brother on a grassy field. "Hiiro, I think its about time I taught you about our clan's special bloodline limit." Yakekoge stated while staring at his sister from behind the bandanna covering his mouth.

"Nii-san, I didn't know we had a kekkai genkai, why do I need to know it anyways?" Hiiro asked, slightly peaking her curiosity.

"Tou-san taught me our kekkai genkai so its only reasonable that I teach you. Also, I'm going to need your help the day we avenge our parents deaths." Yakekoge said.

Hiiro slightly perked up at hearing mention of her parents as Yakekoge had made it a bit of a taboo'd subject, but she responded anyways, "Teach me nii-san, I'll make them proud."

Yakekoge nodded before beginning his lesson, "First off, the name of our clan's kekkai genkai is Flare Style. Think of our technique as an amplified version of Fire Style."

"What makes it so special then?" Hiiro asked her older brother.

"Flare Style is a kekkai genkai because we have the ability to use our life force in conjunction with our fire jutsu to give any fire technique you know a drastically increased effect. Unfortunately it has a severe drawback." Yakekoge explained.

"What is that drawback?" Hiiro asked.

"The technique directly saps your life force, which means that the more you use it, the less life force you have, until…" Yakekoge trailed off.

"Until?" Hiiro asked.

"Until it kills you." Yakekoge answered, "The reason why I am teaching you this is because it is a last resort technique, a trump card if you'd like to call it that. I only want you to use this technique when it is a life or death situation and there is nothing else that you can do to survive."

_End Flashback_

"My Flare Style Armour is the last thing that you'll be seeing Uzumaki." Hiiro said while reaching to the tanto on her back.

'Crap I can't even move my gudo-dama, I don't know if there's anything else I can do.' Naruto thought, before he saw a yellow blur land in front of him as Hiiro jumped back to dodge the attack.

"Sorry I'm late boss!" Naruto's clone who carried Hinata away shouted, standing in front of the original as he struggled to get up.

"It's about time, be careful I'm not in that good condition." Naruto said as his gudo-dama formed in a halo behind him as he shakily stood up.

"Sure thing bo-" the clone replied before dispelling as it received a kick to the side of its head.

"Baka." Naruto stated as Hiiro stood in the clone's previous location, facing him.

Naruto moved one of the gudo-damas to his hand before turning it into a short staff before coughing up a bit of blood. Hiiro capitalized on this opportunity quickly charging towards Naruto with her tanto up, Naruto's gudo-damas refusing to respond properly as he fell to the ground in pain.

'Damn, this is bad, I think she might have caused internal damage.' Naruto thought as Hiiro thrust her tanto forward intending on finishing the fight.

Hiiro confidently smirked as she saw an undeterred end to her battle. She extended the tanto, only being a few feet from Naruto, before the tanto was knocked out of Hiiro's hand at the sound of metal hitting against metal. before Hiiro was forced to jump backwards to avoid an electrified sword only to stand face to face with the last Uchiha.

**Land of Fire Forest:**

A man quickly traversed through the forests of the Land of Fire, approaching his destination quickly. His two purple eyes observed his surroundings for a moment before he allowed his mind to drift to the different tasks he had pursued earlier that day. 'I think that I made a wise choice picking those two in addition to Kakashi and Obito.' the man thought to himself, recollecting his earlier 'inspection' of a few specific shinobi corpses.

**Konoha:**

Gai awoke in a hospital bed with Shizune looking at some reports beside it. "Gai, Tsunade-sama told you not to leave the hospital until you are fully recovered."

"Shizune, my flames of youth with always remain true to themselves, it would be most unyouthful if I did not visit the graves of my comrades." Gai paused at saying this before continuing, "Shizune, I need to talk to Hokage-sama about something which happened earlier."

"Gai, Tsunade-sama doesn't have time to deal with trivial matters." Shizune lectured before Gai raised his hand.

"Shizune, this is a matter of utmost importance, I need to talk to the Hokage immediately." explained Gai in a serious tone.

Upon seeing Gai in such a serious tone, she immediately proceeded to head to the Hokage's office and fetch Tsunade, before bringing her back to Gai's hospital room.

"Gai, what is so important that you needed to talk to me?" Tsunade asked as she barged into the room.

"Hokage-sama, while I was visiting Kakashi's grave I encountered an individual who was intent on defiling his grave. I attempted to stop him, but my flames of youth were not powerful enough. The more important fact was that he had two purple rinnegan, the last thing that I saw as I foolishly looked into his eyes." Gai explained.

Tsunade rested her hand on her chin thinking for a moment before responding, "Gai, the trauma you suffered from facing Madara was severe, so I have reason to believe that you were hallucinating. Sasuke is the only rinnegan user still around and he only has a single one. You disobeyed my orders and left the hospital, so it is likely that you passed out as a result of your current condition." Tsunade explained before continuing, "Additionally, we found no indicators that any bodies had been touched. Gai, I understand that you cared about your friends and comrades, but everything indicates that what you saw was just a sign of trauma."

Tsunade began to make her way out of the office alongside Shizune, preparing to leave Gai to recover. "Tsunade," Gai said with a serious face before continuing, "I understand where you are coming from, but I know I've never met this person before."

Tsunade paused at this statement, realizing Gai's complete seriousness behind the topic, before opening the door and leaving followed by Shizune, leaving Gai to ponder upon who or what he had possibly seen.

**A/N: Well that concludes this chapter. What was the leader of Dusk doing in Konoha? Unfortunately that won't be revealed until at the very earliest after this fight, but feel free to guess. Sasuke has arrived as backup for Naruto, so next chapter you'll be seeing the fight reach its climax. **

**Also, before anyone goes around calling Hiiro overpowered, keep in mind that Flare Style has a severe drawback, think of it kind of like the Eighth Gate, except instead of fully killing you(except when Naruto's around :P), it gradually kills you the longer you use it. Additionally, Hiiro is not as fast as it may seem(AKA god level speeds), she just got the jump on(surprised) Naruto with how much faster she had become, but still that doesn't mean she isn't incredibly fast with her Flare Style Armour. Let me know what you thought of the chapter with a review, I'd really appreciate it.**


	10. Chapter 10: Avengers

**A/N: Long time no see everyone. I'd like to thank RamenKage9, luqie10, and naruto1246 for reviewing last chapter. I tried to answer your concerns to the best of my ability (in a PM), but feel free to let me know if you need any clarity. Also, this is the longest chapter in the story so far, so I hope you enjoy. Let's jump into it:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does.**

**Chapter 10: Avengers**

"Hn, I didn't think you'd be in this bad condition dobe. I guess I gave you to much credit." snorted Sasuke, who now stood facing his opponent with their Flare Style Armour active.

"She hit me with a surprise attack, besides I doubt you could do any better teme!" Naruto shouted while kneeling wiping some blood off his mouth, no longer having his bijuu cloak active.

"Hn, we'll see." Sasuke said with a smirk on his face.

"Just buy me some time so that I can recover." Naruto murmured as he clenched his chest where he had been burnt.

"I have no quarrel with you Uchiha, for your best interest remove yourself from this battle." Hiiro stated while facing towards Sasuke.

"Tch, I could say the same to you." Sasuke responded while holding up his sword in a reverse grip.

"Very well, if I have to kill you too I will." countered Hiiro, flaring up the Flare Armour slightly.

"Sasuke, watch out, she's fast!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke nodded before dashing forwards while activating his sharingan and funnelling lightning chakra into his blade. Hiiro stood in her position allowing Sasuke to approach before she quickly reappeared to his right throwing a punch towards his head. Sasuke managed to quickly leap to his left dodging the punch and getting a small proximity burn on his cheek before quickly landing and swinging his electrified sword towards Hiiro's now exposed stomach.

Hiiro bent her body away from the blade while reaching over to grab the bottom of the blade with her left hand. The blade dug into her hand drawing some blood before she applied force to the blade, bending and breaking the metal that had melted in her hand before letting the blade of the sword fall to the ground and drawing her hand away. Sasuke quickly leapt away from her before throwing the handle of the broken sword into the ground.

Naruto struggled to bring himself to his feet before collapsing to the ground again. 'I can't do anything right now in my state.'

"Naruto-kun, are you hurt?" Hinata asked with a hoarse voice as she landed next to Naruto, holding him up in a seated position.

"Hinata, I'm slightly injured, but don't worry about me, did Sakura heal you?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded before Sakura landed by her side, "Hinata, you shouldn't speak too much as your throat still needs time to heal." Sakura said before turning to Naruto, "Naruto what happened to you?"

"Hiiro," Naruto said while pointing towards the woman with fiery chakra around her, "landed a surprise attack on me and injured me, Sasuke-teme came and saved me before she finished me off."

"Sasuke-kun is here?" Sakura asked before turning towards the battle and noticing him.

"Naruto-kun, who is Hiiro?" Hinata asked.

"Eh, it's Yakekoge, its kind of a long story, Sakura could you heal me so that I can get back into the fight. Hiiro is very dangerous, I'm not sure if Sasuke can take her on by himself." Naruto explained.

'Stronger than Sasuke-kun?' Sakura thought before bending down to observe Naruto's injury before she heard a large crashing sound to their side.

"Did you think I was already beat?" Shogai said while standing next to his shield which he had placed on the ground.

"Hinata, can you heal Naruto? I'll take care of this guy." Sakura said while standing up and facing Shogai.

Hinata nodded before beginning to heal Naruto with the healing palm that Sakura had helped her with before **(A/N: Remember what Sakura and Hinata were talking about before they left to hunt down Dasu?). **"Good luck Sakura-san." Hinata said as Sakura made her way towards her opponent.

Elsewhere Hiiro quickly dashed to her right as Sasuke ignited her previous location with amaterasu. Sasuke quickly repeated the process upon setting his eyes on her new location only to see her dodge again before quickly dashing towards Sasuke. Hiiro moved in to elbow Sasuke in the stomach only to collide with a ethereal purple rib cage, which slightly cracked upon the elbow's collision. Sasuke quickly formed a skeletal Susano'o arm which tried to grab Hiiro who quickly leapt backwards to avoid the attack.

Sakura stood face to face with Shogai again, cracking her knuckles while watching him readjust his shield. "I'm impressed that you survived my punch earlier Pinkie, I guess you're better than I thought. Unfortunately, your chakra-enhanced strength isn't remotely close to my level." Shogai stated.

"Its no surprise with an attitude like yours that Tsunade refused to take you as an apprentice." Sakura countered while charging towards Shogai.

Sakura pulled her fist back to prepare a punch to which Shogai grinned, raising his shield to block it. However, instead of throwing the punch at Shogai, Sakura punched the ground in front of him, forcing him to jump backwards to avoid the pieces of ground that were blasted away from the impact point. Shogai landed on the ground before quickly charging back towards his opponent and going in for a shield bash. Sakura leapt over the attack before throwing a powered punch towards Shogai from above. Shogai sidestepped the punch while grabbing Sakura's arm and using it to throw her across the battlefield, before quickly charging after her.

Hiiro quickly went through a few hand signs while breathing in air before she shouted, "Flare Style: Flame Stream!". The result of the technique was an incredibly enhanced version of her primary fire style technique, the size of the stream being comparable to Madara Uchiha's Great Fire Annihilation jutsu, the heat of the technique sweeping over to the other fighters on the battlefield. Sasuke's skeletal Susano'o quickly changed into its legless full-bodied form(**A/N: The second stage of Susanoo**), before bringing its arms in front of it to defend itself. The powerful flames blasted against the ethereal being, quickly burning through the arms of the Susano'o before bombarding the main body, only to be met with Amaterasu flames.

The two powerful fire techniques battled for supremacy, the constant stream of Flare Style flames being burned away by Sasuke's Amaterasu. The intense fire slowly melted away the front of Sasuke's Susanoo, but he continued to apply more Amaterasu flames to counter the Flare Style technique, regardless of the impending danger. Hiiro was forced to stop the technique after maintaining it for such an extended period, before coughing up blood as a toll for abusing her Flare Style techniques. She straightened herself up while wiping some blood from her lips, attempting to see through the Amaterasu flames still burning the remnants of her technique, but she could not see much other than the purple glow from the Susanoo's head.

Sasuke teleported next to Hiiro using his rinnegan's technique while slashing across with his Chidori Sharp Spear in a sword form, similar in style to Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Slash. Hiiro had virtually no time to react to the attack which was already in mid swing, resulting in her trying to move out of the way as the chidori sword slashed through her flame armour, leaving a deep gash in her left shoulder. Although disappointed by how the attack had been weakened due to the armour and missed a vital point, Sasuke still sported a smirk at his successful attack. However, despite her injury, Hiiro took advantage of Sasuke letting his guard down and threw a fast kick at Sasuke's side, burning through his clothes and leaving him with a strong burn on his side as he was kicked away.

Across the battlefield, Sakura activated her Hyakugou seal which spread across her body, healing her as she pushed herself back to her feet. Sakura was given very little time to recover however, as Shogai quickly converged on her location, jumping in from above with his right arm pulled back into a fist. Sakura quickly bent her knees down while pulling her right arm back and funnelling almost all of her non-Hyakugou chakra into it. Shogai brought his fist forward in a punch from above, colliding with Sakura's counter punch creating a massive explosion of wind and making a sickening crack.

Sakura growled in pain as she felt multiple bones in her arm break as the fist pushed towards her, but she managed to remain standing as she funnelled all the Hyakugou chakra she was not using to heal herself into the fist as quickly as she could. Sakura started to push back with close to an equal force as Shogai's punch as she pushed with all her strength and chakra against his punch. Shogai smirked as he saw her struggling, confident of his victory despite the incredible pressure he was pushing against, until he felt an incredible sharp pain in his arm as it bent on an incredibly unnatural angle causing him to cry out in agony.

Sakura smirked as Shogai's arm broke and she stopped channelling chakra to her fist as he fell to the ground. Sakura's Hyakugou seal faded as she fell to one knee panting, while Shogai dropped his shield from his left arm and began to hold his now disfigured right arm. Shogai seeing the grin on Sakura's face stammered, "How is this possible, my attack was stronger! Did you plan this out?"

"Unfortunately for you, you were apparently unaware of the limitations of the human body. Your body had adapted to withstanding the impact of your chakra enhanced strength as it normally impacted objects which were typically either not moving against it, or not incredibly durable. However, it was not capable of withstanding a powerful force pushing against it as the total strain on your bones was more than it could handle, resulting in the severe damage to your arm. Although my attack was not equal in strength, your attacks were normally against immobile objects, so the additionally pressure from my fist was enough to push your arm to the breaking point. This is the advantage of learning under my master, which is why I won this fight." Sakura explained while pulling out a kunai and staggering to her feet.

"So you knew all of this when you attacked? How come your arm did not break!" exclaimed a shocked Shogai.

"I had my Hyakugou seal active resulting in constant healing. My arm did break under the impact and in fact was constantly being broken as I applied more pressure to the punch, however my technique allowed it to heal itself to the point I could continue to push against your punch." Sakura said as she slowly began to move towards Shogai.

Shogai walked backwards raising his good arm in defense as he backed away. Sakura began to approach him with a moderate walk, forcing Shogai to retreat rather hastily until he tripped and fell, landing on his arm. Sakura quickly closed the distance before holding the kunai at Shogai's throat.

"It's over." Sakura said as she held the kunai to his throat.

"Why won't you finish me?" Shogai asked.

Sakura sighed before explaining, "Firstly, you probably hold some valuable information which would be beneficial to the village. Secondly, you are adamant on getting revenge on someone who you feel ruined your life." Sakura then paused to look back towards where Sasuke stood, before continuing, "Someone important to me followed the same path and it lead him to a trail of destruction and it was a while until he finally found his way back to a good path. I guess a friend of mine convinced me that anyone can change for the better if you give them a chance."

"Why do you think that I would change for the better?" Shogai asked sarcastically.

"Because I know that deep down, the way you act and everything you do is just a mask that you placed on your true self to try to erase pain. I may not understand how you feel on a personal basis because I still have a family and people precious to me, but I can tell you that I've seen people who did just that." Sakura explained thoughtfully.

Shogai paused for a second to contemplate, before saying, "I always blamed Tsunade for what happened to my family, which is why I strived to become stronger than her at her own techniques. I always thought that despite her gambling debts her strength always got her out of the horrible situations the debt put her in, so I thought I could do the same to help free my family from my father's debts."

"I personally never liked my master's habits, but sometimes you have to consider some things are far out of your control." Sakura explained.

"Do you expect me to just let things happen without at least trying to do something!" Shogai shouted.

"Well sometimes trying to do something can just make it worse, a path of vengeance ruins both your life and the lives around you. Sometimes you need to learn to let go of it, or else it completely consumes you." Sakura said sorrowfully, thinking back to everything that happened with Sasuke.

Shogai stared at Sakura for a few seconds before saying, "I don't know what to think right now. I was just beaten by somebody a bit more than half my age despite training in chakra-enhanced strength since I was 14. I have spent 16 years intent on getting revenge, yet somehow your reasoning leads me to doubt my beliefs. How?"

"I only told you what I've learnt from my own experiences, I can't force you to change for the better and just abandon your revenge and you will definitely face punishment for your crimes alongside your partner. I'm just trying to give you a chance to help yourself see a perspective which doesn't result in a pointless trail of destruction which leaves nothing left for you at the end." Sakura answered while sheathing her kunai. **(A/N: I wonder what jutsu Sakura just used… it's one of Naruto's trademarks after all ;) but we'll see how effective it was.)**

Naruto stood up with Hinata's assistance before giving her a brief hug and saying, "Thanks Hinata, you saved me once again. I need to go help out teme over there, but can you promise me not to try and enter this fight. I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt and Hiiro is incredibly powerful, please can you do this?"

Hinata hesitated before saying, "I-I promise Naruto-kun, please be careful."

"Don't worry, Sasuke and I make a great team, we'll definitely win." Naruto said while enveloping himself in his bijuu cloak and jumping towards the battle, leaving Hinata to watch from the side lines.

Sasuke stood a fair distance from a bleeding Hiiro, who reached to her shoulder to cauterize her wound using her a dampened version of her fire armour on herself. Sasuke was holding his own burnt side before he turned to see Naruto hovering next to him. "Hn, took long enough dobe." Sasuke muttered while taking his hand off the burn in a subtle attempt to look tougher.

"It's not my fault she is so powerful." Naruto said before noticing Sasuke's wound, "Not that you look much better than I did."

"Shut up." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto smirked before turning to Hiiro, "Give up Hiiro, you can't beat both of us."

'Is he floating?' Hiiro asked to herself, 'This is more than I bargained for, not to mention that I can't really handle much more.' She then proceeded to turn towards Naruto, "Uzumaki, I'm not going to give up until you are finished!"

Naruto shrugged before saying, "You asked for it."

Naruto quickly flew towards Hiiro with a short staff as she quickly jumped to catch him in the air with a Flare Style enhanced fist. Naruto sensing the attack repositioned himself in the air, before slamming the gudo-dama short staff into Hiiro's stomach, the staff completely ignoring the Armour and sending Hiiro crashing into the ground.

Hiiro started forming handsigns with her hands while still in a small crater in the ground, before her left arm was pinned to the ground by Sasuke's chidori spear as he had teleported beside her. "Naruto finish her!" Sasuke shouted as she started to push herself to her knees with her good arm, while her other arm was still pinned.

Naruto smashed Hiiro in the stomach with the short staff causing her to fall back to the ground while spitting out blood, before he held the rod sideways above her. "Hiiro, give up on your vengeance, you can't just pretend you aren't an Uzumaki, you don't have to keep trying to continue a forgotten clan war!"

Hiiro started chuckling quietly, before slowly increasing her laughter to the point where it almost sounded maniacal. "How many times do I have to tell you, I was never an Uzumaki. I never expected it to come to this point, but I guess I'll just have to take you down with me. I'll finally avenge my clan once and for all!" Hiiro said as she coughed up more blood, her bloodline overuse clearly affecting her.

The chakra armour surrounding Hiiro began to grow slightly larger and brighter, cutting off the connection of the chidori sword, before a large transparent flame erupted upwards from Hiiro's body forcing Sasuke and Naruto to jump backwards as Hiiro forced herself to stand up while panting. "This is the end Naruto Uzumaki, behold the jutsu that ended your clan's village!" Hiiro shouted, spraying some blood from her mouth as she slightly wheezed.

_Flashback (__**A/N: Ahah, its the final one this arc!)**_

A 13 year-old Hiiro sat next to her 18 year-old brother in a small tea house, sipping tea as her brother sat looking at his.

"What's wrong Yakekoge?" Hiiro asked, placing her tea back on the table.

Yakekoge's eyes darted to a corner of the room where three hooded figures sat drinking tea, "It's nothing Hiiro, I think we shouldn't waste any more time here." Yakekoge explained from behind his bandanna.

Hiiro nodded, before standing up and following Yakekoge out of the tea house and onto the street of the small village which the two had decided to rest at on their way towards the Leaf. Three hooded figures quickly appeared in front of them, before Yakekoge moved protectively in front of his sister. The figures took off their hoods to reveal a man with a mainly bandaged face on his right side with his left eye unbandaged. His right arm was also bandaged and was covered with 3 gold braces and he had a neutral expression on his face. The other two figures wore ANBU masks and stood with their kunais ready.

"Unfortunately I cannot allow the two of you to leave so easily. My root agents have been tracking down the remnants of your clan for a while and based off of your activities I have reason to suspect that you intend to launch an attack against the Leaf." Danzo stated.

"What do you want from us?" Yakekoge asked, ignoring the last portion of Danzo's statement.

"I am more than aware that your clan defeated the Uzumaki's. I am actually thankful for that action as you eliminated another possible threat to the leaf, but I'm afraid that you are too dangerous to be allowed to live." Danzo explained while removing the braces from his right arm before beginning to undo the bandages.

Yakekoge quickly pushed Hiiro backwards before quickly going through a string of hand signs before launching a large fireball down the street causing spectators to flee in panic. The two anbu quickly leapt to the side to avoid the fireball, with Danzo jumping upwards while continuing to undo the bandages on his arm, slowly revealing a pale arm. Danzo had a smirk on his face as he dodged the attack, before it quickly turned into a look of shock as he felt a sword drive itself through his heart. Yakekoge dug the sword into Danzo's chest before crashing to the ground alongside him and pulling it out grinning, before saying, "Two left."

Hiiro shouted in shock as a wind blade emerged through Yakekoge's stomach as Danzo appeared behind him. "The eyes I acquired are useful indeed." Danzo muttered as one of the eyes on his now unbandaged right arm closed while he pulled the kunai with a wind chakra blade out of Yakekoge.

"What the hell, I killed you." Yakekoge stated in shock as he held his wound.

"Yes, you did." Danzo bluntly stated before preparing to throw the wind-enhanced kunai at Hiiro.

Hiiro stared in shock at her dying brother, before finding herself unable to move as Danzo pulled the kunai back before throwing it. Hiiro closed her eyes and braced for the impact, before she heard the kunai hit something. Hiiro opened her eyes to witness Yakekoge with a kunai in his back standing in front of her, having taken the blow despite his prior injury.

"I said I'd always protect you didn't I?" Yakekoge said with a small smile in his face while Hiiro gasped in shock.

Yakekoge pulled the kunai from his back before he applied a small layer of fire chakra to his hand before pressing it to his wounds, cauterizing them. Yakekoge then held his hands to his side as he formed gauntlets of pure fire chakra around them, before they turned a brighter hue of red and appeared to thicken. "Hiiro, you have to run." Yakekoge stated as he stood facing Danzo, who stood unfazed by the chakra around Yakekoge's arms.

Hiiro's eyes widened upon witnessing the hue of Yakekoge's chakra before asking, "Why Yakekoge? You don't have to do this!"

"Hiiro, I need you to survive. You are the only one who will be able avenge our clan and our parents death. It will be a hard and difficult journey, but I know you can do it. Do it in my memory. Now go, I'll handle him." Yakekoge commanded before he charged towards Danzo.

Hiiro nodded and turned away from Yakekoge, wiping a few tears of her cheek before running in the opposite direction while deciding that she would dedicate herself to complete Yakekoge's goal and avenge her family and clan.

**After Yakekoge and Danzo's fight.**

Danzo began to reseal his arms behind the golden braces before signalling for the only surviving anbu to pick up Yakekoge's body. "Danzo-sama, are you sure that it was necessary to sacrifice that many-" the root ANBU member asked.

Danzo waved him off before saying, "I have plenty of eyes back in the Leaf, this man was too much of a threat, so the six sharingan that were lost today were well worth it as it allowed the Leaf to see another day. We will have to hunt down the girl another time, for now we'll return to the village."

_End Flashback_

Hiiro brought her hands together in a ram sign, before the chakra around her formed to make a large flame towering at close two double her height. Naruto and Sasuke slightly edged backwards, before standing in their respective defensive stances. The flame slowly started to glow brighter and the flame started to flicker more wildly, Sasuke noticing that somehow a lot of chakra was being funnelled into one location.

"Naruto, you have to stop her!" Sasuke shouted.

"Yeah, I know, I can sense how much chakra she's building up!" Naruto said, before directing a gudo-dama towards Hiiro which went flying towards the chakra flame.

The light from the sun seemed to be brighter and stronger in a small circle around Hiiro as the flame grew brighter. The gudo-dama quickly pushed into the side of the flame only to begin to lose its shape and drip downwards as if it was being melted. Naruto and Sasuke widened their eyes upon seeing this as Naruto attempted to bring the gudo-dama back to no success.

"Somehow she's using natural energy in her technique and it forms some kind of chakra shield!" Naruto shouted as he slightly edged backwards.

Hiiro smirked before saying, "You are correct Uzumaki, I am using my body as a beacon for the natural energy emitted from the sun. The energy from the sun which is emitted over a certain radius is drawn to my location allowing me to use my technique."

"Naruto this is bad, we can't get within the flame." Sasuke stated.

"We've got to get out of her jutsu's radius, come on Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

Hiiro chuckled before saying, "I'm highly doubting you stand a chance of escaping, I don't even know the radius of this technique, but it was enough to instantly wipe out Uzushiogakure."

"Shut up! We'll never know until we try!" Naruto shouted before turning towards Sasuke, "How far can you move us with your eye technique?"

"I can't use it right now, the technique needs to recharge, we'll have to go on foot." Sasuke explained.

Naruto quickly formed a handsign, forming a clone who created a chakra arm which picked up Sasuke. "I need you to go get Sakura too!" Naruto shouted to his clone who nodded before quickly flying off to Sakura's location.

Naruto arrived at Hinata's location before quickly picking her up in bridal position. Hinata having observed the fight from afar with her byakugan proceeded to ask, "Naruto-kun, what is Hiiro doing, she's building up an incredible amount of chakra?"

"I'm not sure Hinata, but we need to get as far away from here as possible, we'll go meet with my other clone and I'll fly us all to safety." Naruto quickly explained before beginning to float before flying over to where he sensed Sakura.

Naruto's shadow clone landed next to Sakura and the sitting Shogai who was looking at the sky as the land began to darken despite the sun being easily visible in the sky. "Sakura, we're leaving." Sasuke stated(demanded).

"Sasuke-kun, you're hurt!" Sakura exclaimed, noticing the burn on his side before reaching towards him to heal it despite her chakra exhaustion.

Sasuke waved her off with his arm before Naruto's clone said, "Sakura, we have to go now! Hiiro is going to use a super powerful technique, so we have to get out of here quickly!"

Sakura nodded before saying, "Wait, we have to take him back to the village." while pointing at Shogai.

"No, don't bother taking me, I'll only slow you down. Give me a chance to redeem myself, Tsunade's apprentice." Shogai said.

The original Naruto carrying Hinata landed next to his clone, "We have to go quickly!", he shouted.

Naruto's clone picked up both Sakura and Sasuke and prepared to jump before Shogai said, "Naruto, I think its worthwhile that you visit the former village of your clan, I learned most of my fuinjutsu from the forgotten scrolls there. Sakura, eventually I am sure you will surpass me in strength as you already did in knowledge. Perhaps you could make a less predictable fighting style, it would probably help you in the future. I'll try to stop Hiiro while you make your escape."

Naruto and Sakura nodded before Naruto and his clone began floating. Shogai made his way over to his shield and picked it up before he walked in between Hiiro and the Konoha team of shinobi. Darkness descended over the area as the flame containing Hiiro began to glow incredibly bright. Shogai placed his shield facing towards Hiiro as he started to go through single handed hand signs as Naruto's team began to fly in the opposite direction away from the battlefield and into the forests of the Land of Fire.

Shogai managed to finish his hand signs before slamming his hand into the back of his shield while shouting, "Fuinjutsu: Great Chakra Barrier!" Kanji emerged from the center of the shield, spreading outwards and creating a half dome of yellowish chakra with a multitude of seals being spread across the dome. Shogai himself was on the inside of the almost 100 foot tall half dome, where he was panting after using the incredibly chakra taxing technique in an attempt to protect the very shinobi who he had previously tried to kill.

Hiiro glared at the dome barrier which she had witnessed being created before the chakra flame she was contained within calmed down and shrunk to the point where it formed a flame of almost pure chakra the size of her. The density of the chakra flame made it impossible to see the user of the jutsu, but her voice was heard as she shouted, "Flare Style: Solar Flare!"

**Land of Fire Forest (5 kilometers north of the battle site):**

A man with his purple sharrinnegan eyes which paled to an almost white state at its center observed the battlefield between the members of his organization and the Konoha ninja. 'Her chakra build-up is ridiculous, it would be unwise to stay here any longer.' the man thought before he quickly began to make his way in the opposite direction.

**Land of Fire Forest (2 kilometers South of the battle site):**

Naruto and his clones quickly flew just above the canopy of the forest as quickly as they could, with Hinata observing what was happening on the battlefield with her byakugan. "Shogai seems to have made a barrier between Hiiro and us, but the chakra around Hiiro is very condensed now, I think she is about to use her technique." Hinata explained.

"Damn it, I wanted to get further away, hopefully we can make it out of the blast radius by the time she finishes it." Naruto said as his clone and him pushed to fly as fast as they possibly could.

Hinata was forced to shut off her Byakugan as the area around Hiiro became too bright to observe, before the group witnessed a massive burst of light from behind them as they continued on their way.

**Land of Fire Plain(Battle site):**

Shogai closed his eyes and turned away as the light emitted from Hiiro's chakra flame became too much to bear, before the flame erupted into a massive fiery explosion. The fiery explosion quickly formed itself into a massive upwards flare of fire which stretched a few kilometers high, and quickly engulfed the former grassy field, stretching into the forests surrounding it, covering close to a 600 meter radius. Shogai's barrier forced the fire which hit it to be redirected upwards, protecting him from the flames itself, but the heat alone was enough to instantly melt through his shield and kill him. The initial explosion of fire released an instantaneous blast of heated wind outwards, but it was nothing compared to the following blast of heat from the following blast of pure heat emitted from the flame. The heat wave ignited trees for the first two kilometers just as a resultant of the extremity of the heat, in addition to entirely annihilating all wildlife the wave passed through. The technique's name quite frankly was the best way to describe it as it was essentially an artificially created solar flare.

**Land of Fire Forest (4 kilometers South of the battle site):**

Naruto and his friends managed to cover another two kilometers before the explosion occurred, resulting in Naruto and his teammates being hit by the initial blast wave from the explosion, sending them spiralling into the forest below. The original Naruto quickly formed his gudo-dama into a protective wall which separated his comrades and the massive flame in the distance. He and his clone then protectively stood over their respective comrades as the heat wave impacted against the wall Naruto created.

The wall proved to divert the main heat wave away from Naruto and his friends, but the heat which did not hit the wall naturally spread out, causing the Konoha ninja to suffer a lesser effect of the heat wave, but still powerful none the less, forcing them to the ground panting, feeling as if they were in a volcano. The heat passed, leaving the group exhausted and panting for air as the battle had at long last come to a close, the large flare in the distance quickly reducing in size before leaving a scarred wasteland in its wake.

**Land of Fire Forest (North of battle site):**

The purple eyed man paused on a branch upon feeling a strong wave of heat blast over him, causing him to look backwards to witness a massive flame which reached into the sky quickly decrease in size before vanishing out of site. The man paused to take a breath before muttering to himself, "The two of them were dispensable anyways. After all, it would be expecting too much for those two to have won against shinobi inheriting the abilities of the Sage of Six Path's himself. However, soon the world shall witness the power of Dusk."

**END OF ARC**

**A/N: I decided as a little bonus to this chapter I'd add the ninja stats of both Shogai and Hiiro. I'll be doing the same each chapter a villain is defeated, showing the stats of the villain at the bottom of the chapter. The stats typically range from 1-5 with the occasional exception is the character is very skilled in a particular category.**

**Shogai's stats:**

**Ninjutsu: 4**

Shogai demonstrated use of the 3rd Hokage's shuriken shadow clone jutsu as well as complete mastery in using his chakra-enhanced strength. Fuinjutsu will be considered in hand seals.

**Taijutsu: 4**

Shogai is a very proficient user in fighting with fuma-shuriken and his unique form of fighting using his shield offensively and defensively alongside his chakra-enhanced strength.

**Genjutsu: 3**

Shogai does not have any abilities related to genjutsu, but it is natural to assume that he was capable of dispelling moderate genjutsu as is a typical requirement for high-tier shinobi organizations.

**Intelligence: 3.5**

Shogai is by no means stupid as he was able to learn a few sealing techniques from Uzumaki clan scrolls and added the techniques to his arsenal. However, he tends to let his mouth run often and can sometimes overlook certain aspects in combat.

**Strength: 6**

In addition to being naturally powerful, his chakra-enhanced strength makes Shogai possibly the strongest out there when it comes to strength, surpassing even Sakura in brute strength. He is so powerful in fact that he could create massive craters comparable to some very powerful jutsus using only his chakra-enhanced strength.

**Speed: 3.5**

Shogai demonstrated a fair amount of speed as he was able to quickly maneuver himself in a fight to take on two opponents at once. He was also capable of narrowly dodging Naruto's gudo-damas at close to point blank range, which is quite a feat.

**Stamina: 4**

Shogai was able to fight multiple consecutive battles without suffering from chakra exhaustion and demonstrated some incredible durability throughout his fights. He was able to continue fighting despite having chakra points closed and was only temporarily put out of the fight.

**Hand Seals: 5**

Shogai demonstrated an ability to use hand signs with a single hand in combat, in addition to performing the hand signs necessary for a powerful barrier seal. He also demonstrated knowledge in the art of sealing to the point where he was able to create a chakra absorption seal on his shield and release the chakra to attack his foes.

**Total: 33**

Overall, Shogai was a very skilled ninja who excels in close quarters combat with some additional fuinjutsu knowledge

**Hiiro's stats (Some stats contain three different levels, base mode, fire style armour and flare style armour):**

**Ninjutsu: 5**

Hiiro demonstrated incredible skill in ninjutsu, being capable of performing a wide incredibly powerful fire techniques. Hiiro demonstrated a diverse arsenal in addition to using her own empowered version of fire techniques as well as a technique of her own invention. Additionally, Hiiro was able to use her bloodline very effectively, powering her already strong fire techniques to ridiculous levels as well as being able to use a large scale suicide attack.

**Taijutsu: 4/4.5/4.5**

Hiiro is a fairly skilled taijutsu fighter, being able to fight somewhat evenly with Naruto in her basic form despite Naruto's sage-mode skills. She also demonstrated fast reflexes as she was capable of dodging some of Naruto's fastest attacks, as well as avoiding a fatal blow from Sasuke's chidori sharp spear in spear form.

**Genjutsu: 3**

Hiiro did not display any genjutsu skill, similar to Shogai, but it can be assumed that she knew how to escape from moderate genjutsu as is necessary for someone of this skill level.

**Intelligence: 3.5**

Hiiro has displayed a wide variety of ninjutsu as well as techniques which she created by herself which requires quite an intelligent mind. She also was able to learn how to integrate her clan's kekkai genkai into her own fighting style, making her a deadly opponent.

**Strength: 3.5/4/4.5**

Hiiro demonstrated some moderate strength in her attacks as she was able to push back her foes with her attacks. Her strength increased the stronger her flame armour became, with her flare armour causing her to be much stronger than her original form.

**Speed: 4/4.5/5.5**

One of Hiiro's strongest skills is her speed, allowing her to easily blitz both Sakura and Hinata at the beginning of their fight. Hiiro's speed allowed her to keep up with Naruto in his base form, as well as quickly surprise attack her in her flare armour. Hiiro's speed in her flare armour allowed her to also keep up with Sasuke in combat who is also known for his fast speed. Another testament to her speed was her ability to outmaneuver Amaterasu.

**Stamina: 5**

Being part Uzumaki Hiiro has incredible stamina and life force, allowing her to fight for a elongated period using chakra taxing techniques. Another testament to her stamina was her ability to maintain an armour formed from Flare Style chakra, which was constantly draining her life force, before she ultimately used a self-destructive technique.

**Hand Seals: 5**

Hiiro is highly skilled in using hand seals as she quickly flies through hand seals before performing her wide arsenal of techniques.

**Total: 33/34.5/36**

Overall Hiiro is an incredibly skilled short-mid range fighter, with incredible speed, ninjutsu and taijutsu that allow her to take on incredibly powerful ninjas such as Naruto and Sasuke in battle while using her Flare Style.

**A/N: Well that concludes the first/introduction arc. It was probably the most I've ever written in my entire life. The talk-no-jutsu with Shogai I felt gave him a bit of character resolution and I feel it would be much better with him than Hiiro, though don't worry, I don't intend to have everyone get talk-no-jutsu'd. I don't really have much else to say other than I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to the fight. Let me know what you thought of the first part of the story/this chapter with a review and see you next time.**

**One more thing, this chapter was kind of an exception when it comes to chapter length because I wanted to tie up this arc on the 10th chapter, so the next one will be probably normal length. Also, it probably won't come out for a little while considering how taxing it was to type up all this stuff :P. Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11: Return

**A/N: Hey everyone, let's jump into the next arc shall we? Thanks to naruto1246 for reviewing again! You'll get a chance to see a bit more of Dusk this chapter. Anyways, I know it took awhile for me to upload this chapter, partially because I was having trouble writing simply because I've been reading so many good serious fanfiction stories and even though this story is supposed to be more serious I found that I enjoy having humour in characters too, but I guess I could always right a more humorous fanfiction later. Long story short, I had writer's block.**

**Also, make sure you read the Author's Note at the bottom, it is quite important.**

**Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and the occasional plot holes within the story ;) (Yeah, I went there *cough* PS *cough*.)**

**Chapter 11: Return**

**Land of Fire Forest:**

"Ugh, is everyone alright?" panted a heat-exhausted Naruto as his clone dispelled. The original Naruto realized that in an attempt to protect Hinata, he was in a rather intimate position to which he quickly stood up scratching the back of his head.

Hinata nodded with a slight blush, while Sakura replied with "Yeah," and a grunt was heard from the Uchiha.

"Alright, let's head home!" Naruto exclaimed beginning to lead the way as his teammates struggled to pick themselves up, with Sakura falling back to the ground.

"Naruto-kun, perhaps we should rest for a little while before we go back to the village." Hinata inquired, while turning to observe the chakra-exhausted Sakura.

Naruto sported a grin before saying, "Alright, sure thing Hinata!" before he went over to sit next to his girlfriend, barely hearing a snort from Sasuke.

"What was that teme, I couldn't hear you!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke before asking, "In fact, why did baa-chan send you anyways?"

"Hn, she didn't, in case you forgot _dobe _we have sensory powers, so I could sense you getting your ass kicked." Sasuke remarked.

"Sasuke-kun, you aren't allowed to leave the village! You can't just go around breaking rules like that." Sakura lectured before getting a "Tch" in response.

Naruto looked at Sakura as she said that, noticing the missing diamond from her forehead, "Sakura, what happened to the thing on your forehead?" he asked.

"My Hyakugou seal? I used up almost all of the chakra within it, so it will take a little while until I build up enough chakra for it to reform." Sakura explained with a slight frown, "Hinata, could you do me a favour and heal Sasuke, I do not have enough chakra."

Hinata nodded, before hearing an objection through grit teeth, "I don't need healing." muttered Sasuke.

Sakura shook her head before addressing Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, if you don't heal that injury it might become infected, it's always important to treat burns carefully."

Sasuke grunted before turning his head away as if his pride was hurt as he lifted his shirt partially to reveal the injury. Hinata applied her healing palm technique to Sasuke's side as he winced in pain, while still keeping his head turned. Naruto stifled his laughter as he watched the stubborn Uchiha being healed, before he began readjusting his tattered clothing and equipment.

**20 minutes later:**

Naruto stood up, surrounded by the other 3 Konoha shinobi as they prepared to make their way back to their village. "Let's go!" Naruto stated as the team began making their way back at a slowish pace so that Sakura could keep up with her chakra-exhaustion.

Naruto made his way to the front of the group alongside Hinata, while Sakura and Sasuke flanked the two. Hinata took the opportunity to reflect upon the recent battle and she couldn't help but think that she had not contributed much to the fight. The feelings of self-doubt that had plagued her in the past couldn't help but rise again, causing Hinata to show a downcast look upon her face. Naruto couldn't help but notice the look on her face causing him to frown slightly before he asked, "What's wrong Hinata?"

"It's just that, I thought I was supposed to be stronger now, but I just ended up being a burden in this mission." Hinata explained sadly.

"Hinata, please stop doubting yourself, you're one of the strongest people I know, never forget that! I'm sure that you just had a bad match-up with your opponent, it happens from time to time, but I know you tried your hardest and that's what counts!" Naruto explained while grinning, causing Hinata to smile slightly.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." replied Hinata, as the two continued along their path to the village.

Sasuke and Sakura continued following the pair in front of them, but Sakura couldn't help in noticing that Sasuke was a fair distance from her. Sakura allowed her thoughts to trail off, thinking as to how Sasuke had become so distant to the rest of their team; sure he had his rivalry with Naruto, but he hardly talked to her. Sakura decided that they can't stay like this forever, so she decided to start a conversation. "Sasuke-kun, why did you decide to protect the Leaf?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke paused for a second, sending her a brief glance before sighing, "I decided to protect the Leaf in order to honour Itachi's memory. I intend to fix the shinobi system to prevent history from repeating itself and in order to achieve this goal, I must become Hokage."

'Itachi? He was an enemy of the Leaf.' **(A/N: It should be noted that the truth behind Itachi has not been revealed to the public yet.)** Sakura thought, before saying, "But, Itachi was an enemy of the-"

Sasuke clenched his fists before interrupting Sakura, "My brother was a hero of the village, don't you dare defile his name."

Sakura's eyes widened, "Hero?" she asked.

"Itachi prevented a coup d'etat and saved the village from destruction, he had to burden all of the guilt of the massacre upon his shoulders. I intend to change the village to prevent such an event from ever happening again." Sasuke stated with a slight glare towards Sakura.

"I'm sorry, I never knew…" Sakura said, casting her head downwards, thinking to herself that she had only made the rift between the two of them worse.

"Hn." was Sasuke's response as he turned to face forwards again, only to quickly snap his head sideways as Sakura stumbled on a branch, before falling forwards towards the ground. Sasuke quickly looked towards the ground beneath her, focussing his rinnegan before he teleported beneath her and caught her before helping her stand upright again.

"Thanks." Sakura said, slightly bewildered.

"Hn," was Sasuke's reply, before the two of them continued after their team mates, approaching the village quickly.

The group was cut off close to the village by Hidden Leaf ANBU, a group of four anbu landing in front of Naruto's group. One of the ANBU spoke saying, "Uchiha Sasuke, we are here to take you into custody for leaving the village without permission."

"Sorry, but I'm not going to let Sasuke go with you, we have to report to the Hokage and he is coming with us to give the mission report." Naruto stated.

"We had strict orders to prevent Sasuke from leaving the village and therefore we need you to hand him into our custody." the ANBU replied.

Naruto gave a grin before saying, "Well you obviously were not very good at your job as he clearly left the village, so I'll be bringing him to the Hokage, as I know I can complete that job successfully."

The ANBU sighed, not wanting to deal with this situation before replying, "Very well, we will accompany you back to the Hokage tower to make sure he does not escape again."

Naruto nodded as the team headed back into the village alongside the ANBU members who were keeping a close eye on the Uchiha who had managed to escape from their watch earlier that day.

**Hokage's Office:**

Tsunade rested her hands on her head as she glared at the last Uchiha who stood disinterested in his surroundings. She began speaking while still facing the Uchiha, "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga, congratulations on another successful mission. I expect a mission report from you later today Naruto."

Naruto nodded, before Tsunade began speaking again, "Now I would like to address the issue of Uchiha Sasuke's parole breach. Sasuke, you were well aware of the conditions of your punishment correct?" Tsunade waited for the appropriate nod before continuing in a raised voice, "Then why the hell did you leave the village! An act such as could very well result in an execution or imprisonment!"

"Baa-chan, allow me to explain. Sasuke sensed that I was in trouble using the powers the old man sage gave us, so he came and helped us beat our enemies. I'll be honest, I'm not sure we would be here if he didn't come." Naruto explained.

Tsunade rubbed her temples in frustration, "I'll let this slide only this once Sasuke, don't even think about leaving the village without my permission until the time of the punishment is over!" she shouted before saying, "All of you get out of my office, I need a drink!"

The shinobi in the room nodded before quickly hurrying out of the office, with Tsunade quickly reminding Naruto to finish the report within the next hour.

**Hokage Tower:**

The anbu who had been with the four konoha shinobi quickly made their exits leaving the four shinobi standing outside of the Hokage's office. "Uhm, does anyone here want to help me with the report?" Naruto asked while scratching the back of his head, never having done a report before.

"Sorry Naruto, I think I'm going to go home and get some rest." Sakura said before leaving.

"Hn, I think I'll do the same," stated Sasuke.

Naruto sweat-dropped before turning to Hinata with puppy dog eyes, "Hinata would you like to help?"

Hinata stifled a giggle before nodding, "I'd be glad to help Naruto-kun."

"Thanks Hinata! How about we get some ramen first though? A mission like that one requires some refueling." Naruto asked while taking Hinata's hand.

"I wouldn't mind having something to eat." Hinata responded, before Naruto grinned and led the way with Hinata in tow.

**Ichiraku Ramen Stand:**

Naruto walked into Ichiraku, with Hinata taking a seat next to him before Teuchi turned around to observe his customers. "Ah, if it isn't my best customer and I'm guessing his date? What can I get you?" the ramen stand owner asked.

"Yeah, it's me old man and this is my girlfriend Hinata. I'll have a miso pork ramen!" Naruto announced.

"I would like the same please." Hinata said while blushing slightly at being so openly declared as Naruto's girlfriend.

"Alright, two miso pork ramens coming up!" Teuchi shouted as he began to cook the ramen.

Naruto placed a finger on his chin before turning two Hinata while squinting, apparently being in thought. "What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"Ehh, it's just with you being my girlfriend and all I feel like I need to come up with an appropriate nickname ya'know?" Naruto said while placing his arm over Hinata's shoulder and bringing her closer.

Hinata let out a small "Eep!" while blushing, before saying, "N-Naruto-kun, there's no need-"

"Hmm, Hinata-chan?" Naruto suggested, cutting her off and causing her to blush more, "Eh, that isn't special enough."

Teuchi placed a bowl of ramen in front of each customer, before telling them that their food was ready.

Naruto still had his hand on his chin as he tried to come up with a nickname, hearing a quiet "Itadakimasu," from Hinata before he took his arm off her shoulder and began slurping down his ramen.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that Hinata ate with a certain amount of elegance, even when having a casual meal such as ramen so he couldn't help but be reminded of a royal figure, a queen perhaps? "I got it!" Naruto exclaimed, the two others in the shop looking at him.

"What is it Naruto?" asked the ramen shop owner.

"Eh, I came up with a great nickname, what do you Hinata_-hime_?" Naruto asked.

Hinata's face turned red with embarrassment at the nickname, before she said, "N-n-naruto-kun, please d-don't call me a p-princess."

"But Hinata-Hime, you are nice, beautiful and polite just like a princess!" Naruto playfully argued back.

Hinata somehow managed to blush harder than she did before causing a chuckle from Teuchi before he went to the back of the store. Naruto chose to hug Hinata at that moment before saying, "I'm sorry for embarrassing you Hinata, if you don't want me to, I won't call you hime."

"I-I don't mind it Naruto-kun." whispered Hinata, causing Naruto to grin.

"Alright then Hinata-hime, I guess it's time I do the mission report!" Naruto shouted, leaving the embrace before sweat dropping at a the piece of paper he held in front of him. "Eh, I have no idea how to do this…" he muttered. Hinata playfully sighed, before she began helping Naruto in writing the report.

**Large Cave, Unknown Location:**

The man with his purple sharrinnegan eyes walked into a seemingly empty cave before he stood in the center. He then spoke seemingly addressing the darkness by asking in a strong deeper pitched voice, "I expect you have briefed the other members of Dusk on their objectives, are they prepared?"

The outline of a figure could be seen shifting in the shadows before it announced in a quieter yet more sinister and deep voice, "The members of our organization are currently on standby outside each respective location, they await your orders."

"Good, we should-" the rinnegan wielder began before being cut off.

"I also took the liberty of having one of the members acquire a certain body from the depths in addition to this." the figure in the darkness said, before pointing a hand from outside the darkness towards a glass container at the other side of the cavern.

"What is that?" the rinnegan user inquired.

"It is the key to another important figure in your operations, we are quite fortunate Obito kept the eye despite the damage it suffered." the man in the darkness stated before continuing, "The eye is in no condition for a transplant, however I feel it will suit your purposes correctly. I completed my tasks perfectly, I should expect that you did the same with no witnesses?"

"I've collected everything necessary from Kakashi and Obito in addition to two more bodies of noteworthy people who you had mentioned. I placed the witnesses under a genjutsu as I completed this task." the rinnegan user explained.

"Are you suggesting that you foolishly threatened our entire operations?" the man from the shadows questioned, slightly raising his voice before continuing, "The purpose of a surprise attack is for them to have no idea what hit them, did you forget that Konoha was attacked by another rinnegan user recently?"

"Do not speak to me as if I don't know what I am doing!" barked the rinnegan user, "Besides, I am not Nagato, these are my own eyes, I awakened them myself and they are far more powerful than a borrowed pair."

"The eyes you possess are powerful indeed, but I wouldn't be so confident in such power, you have not had the eyes for long, so it would be best if you did not overuse them as the side effects of such power is not known." the man in the darkness stated.

"I do not need time to adjust to my own powers; in case you were unaware, Yakekoge and Shogai were defeated by Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. I am sure you are aware that we now need someone else to commence the attack on Konoha." the rinnegan user suggested.

"I just stated that you should get used to those eyes of yours, yet you are foolishly ignoring my warnings. We are to commence the plan in two weeks, it is impossible to prepare yourself by then if that is what you were implying?" the man from the shadows asked.

"We have sacrificed too much to delay this any further!" the rinnegan user shouted, "You were well aware that we only have once chance at this, so I will be the one who ends Konoha."

The man in the shadows scoffed before saying, "For someone who fought so desperately to prevent our village's destruction, it is odd that you would be the one who wants to have the task of destroying it."

"We are doing this to save the world from what will happen, even if the people of this time have to suffer." the rinnegan user said stoically.

"Very well, I still doubt that you can prepare yourself by then, I suggest we allow the other members of Dusk to commence their attack within two weeks while you hold off your attack for another month to prepare everything." the man from the shadows stated.

"We shall notify the other members of Dusk now, then immediately afterwards I expect you to accompany me as we pay Orochimaru a visit." the rinnegan user said.

"And what makes you so sure he will help you with your task." the other man asked.

"He won't, but we'll make him." the rinnegan user stated before he made a few hand signs before seven holograms appeared in the room in a semicircle in front of the rinnegan user.

"Dusk, I am aware your other leader has briefed you of your tasks, so the decided date will be exactly two weeks from today. I expect you to complete your tasks effectively and without failure." the rinnegan user stated before continuing, "I expect you each to be outside the village you were assigned to target."

The rinnegan user turned to the pair to his furthest left, "Sunagakure."

A middle sized man with some form of gas mask over his face said, "Yeah."

A young girl no older than 13 wielding a one handed staff spun it around and happily chirped, "Of course!"

The rinnegan user then turned to the next pair, "Iwagakure."

A tall man with a mask covering his face nodded.

A short man who appeared to be much older stated, "We will complete the task."

The leader then turned to the next pair, "Kumogakure."

A larger man with a slightly crazed look in his eyes grinned.

A slender tall woman gently nodded her head.

The rinnegan user turned to the final hologram, "and finally, Kirigakure."

The lone figure had a bamboo hat on his head similar to the kind of hat worn by the Akatsuki which was tilted to cover his face, but an audible "It will fall." was heard.

"In two weeks time the hidden villages shall suffer the fate that they deserved, they chose to unite to overshadow the rest of the world and they will crush the rest of the world under a tyrannical rule, but as Dusk, we shall end the reign of this _Shinobi Alliance_." the rinnegan user stated to the members of Dusk

Nods of consent with the occasional acknowledgement was heard before the holograms winked out of existence. "It is time to go, leave everything you collected in the Leaf here. We have much to do in the next month." the man in the shadows said as he began to walk towards the entrance of the cavern.

"Where did you put the body that you had acquired?" inquired the rinnegan user.

"It is at the back of the cavern." the man who stood at the door said.

"We are going to find Orochimaru immediately, we are bringing everything with us." the rinnegan user said.

"I see, you think he might be able to betray us if we bring him here. Very well, I will store everything we need for your operations within these scrolls." the other leader said as he pulled out some storage scrolls. "I've been keeping track of Orochimaru's actions since the war, so I will lead the way."

The sharrinnegan user nodded before walking over to the door as his partner quickly stored everything the two of them needed before they left the cavern.

**A/N: While we didn't get to see much of our heroes this chapter (apart from a bit of NaruHina :) ) I'm sure you readers learned a little bit on Dusk's intentions. Also, I'm sure some of you had suspicions about the enemies who are from another time and it has definitely been hinted in this chapter.**

**I also have some sort of bad news. I'm going to be taking a prolonged hiatus from this story for probably the next month. This unfortunately means no updates. The reason for the said hiatus is because I will be away for a little while and then immediately afterwards I will be going to university and will need some time to settle in. Additionally, even though I have most of the story planned out, I found some issues in the plot particularly after the current arc, so I am trying to find a way to make it more original. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I'll make sure to try and get some writing in whenever I get the chance. Please stay with the story and let me know what you think with a review, so that when I get back to writing it, I can improve the story in any way possible. Thanks for reading this far and again I am deeply sorry.**


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